Fresh start: This is Gaurav’s first season with Pondicherry.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
Pacer Gaurav Yadav has been a revelation for Pondicherry in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season.
He was instrumental in his team’s away wins versus Delhi and Uttarakhand, with three five-wicket hauls (seven for 49 vs. Delhi, six for 40 and seven for 53 vs. Uttarakhand) from the two matches. The win against Delhi was only Pondicherry’s second win in the elite group in the competition history.
He’s been the season’s leading wicket-taker so far, with 39 wickets from nine innings at an average of 11.92. He has had five five-wicket hauls with an economy of 2.55.
Asked for the most striking quality in the 32-year-old pacer, Pondicherry’s senior campaigner Arun Karthick on Thursday said: “As a player who’s been playing alongside him, I think he never gets tired. He always wants to bowl long spells.
“For a fast bowler, to do that game after game, I think that is a tremendous attitude to carry. Not many people can do that both in cold weather (in Delhi and Uttarakhand) and in this Pondicherry weather (hot). I think he’s one guy who’ll give his heart out for the team. Not many bowlers can bowl eight-over spells. He does that.”
This is Gaurav’s first season with Pondicherry. Until this season, he’d been playing for Madhya Pradesh.
“For him, it’s been a great season, since he had come out of Madhya Pradesh to represent Pondicherry and there was a kind of pressure for him to perform.
“He’s responded really well. We all know how good a bowler Gaurav is across formats. I think the way he’s bowling right now is tremendous. So, easily the best bowler (in the tournament). That’s why I think he’s got the numbers, which also tells the story,” said Karthick.
