Now, this Hardik comes to the party with Unadkat

AT vadodara, the name ‘Hardik’ has been the talk of the town these past few days. It was local boy Hardik Pandya showing off his batting skills for India in the second T20 game in Ranchi, on Saturday, while his namesake Hardik Rathod from Rajkot hogged the limelight alongwith fellow pacer Jaydev Unadkat for Saurashtra.

It was slow cricket from Assam as Saurashtra fast bowlers bagged the honours on Day One of the Ranji Trophy semi-finals at the IPCL ground. 78 overs were bowled with only two coming from spinners as Assam could only post 193 for 7 on the board. Unadkat and Rathod took three wickets each while medium pacer Deepak Punia claimed the remainder.

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Hardik Rathod, brother of former India under 19 cricketer Nikhil, who played with the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina in 2004-2005, was eyeing the pacer’s slot in the Railways team till two years ago.

Railways gave him a few chances but later they had no place for the 27-year-old left-arm pacer. It was at that time that Rathod decided to try his luck back again at home. “I did well in inter-railways competitions. Took three wickets in the final but I was dropped the same day. When I asked, they said, I’m injured. This season I took an NOC from Railways and played for Saurashtra,” Rathod said.

It was Rathod who began the early assault, getting openers Rahul Hazarika caught at slips and Pallav Das trapped lbw to see Assam tottering at 15 for 2. Later, he broke a crucial stand of 127 runs between Amit Verma and Arun Karthick to bring his side back into the game. Karthick and Verma had ensured that Assam could look to post a good total on the board. With the score reading 25 for 3, the onus was on the two professionals and they did respond well under pressure.

Only 54 runs were scored in the second session and the duo aimed more to stay on the crease even if runs weren’t easy to come by. But it proved counter productive. Karthick, who had batted for more than three hours shouldered arms to a delivery from Rathod, who had come round the wicket but the batsman missed an angle ball to see his stumps uprooted.

It opened the gates for Saurashtra pacers as Unadkat and Punia pounced on three more.

Those who know the story behind Rathod’s comeback have some glum accounts to narrate about the boy. His father passed away four years ago and later divorce resulted in mental trauma for the Rajkot pacer. His friends and brother Nikhil got him back into cricket.

“Kharaab time dekha hai usne. Thoda peeta bhi tha,” his team mates murmur. He might not have the pace of Unadkat, but he is deceptive. Had fellow pacer Shaurya Sanandia not got injured during Syed Mushtaq Ali, Rathod might have had to wait.

Rathod, though has moved on. There is nothing to talk about the past. Ask him if this was his best performance and he interrupts, “I took a five wicket-haul for Railways where Ravindra Jadeja scored a triple hundred a few years ago. It was overshadowed but I bowled well in that game too. Achha achha hua hai, aage bhi achha karna hai,” he recalls.

The day belonged to Saurashtra’s bowlers, while for this Hardik, life was chugging back on track.
Brief Scores: Assam 1st innings: 193 for seven in 78 overs (Amit Verma 74 not out, KB Arun Karthik 59; Hardik Rathod 3/37, Jaydev Unadkat 3/60).