From Leg-Spin to Lethal Pace: How a Local Club Crisis Birthed World’s Best Hardik Pandya
Anil Kumble famously transitioned from a medium pacer to a legendary leg-spinner. Ravichandran Ashwin began his cricketing journey as a fast bowler before evolving into a world-renowned off-spinner. Even Yuzvendra Chahal started as a medium pacer before establishing himself as a world-class leg-spinner. The same goes for Kuldeep Yadav, who wanted to replicate the great Wasim Akram but ended up becoming one of the finest left-arm wrist-spin bowlers.
In today’s Internet age, unearthing these fascinating career pivots takes nothing more than a quick click. But Google’s archives do not know everything. They certainly do not hold the complete, meticulous history of every cricketer – especially not the origin story of Hardik Pandya.
How many people actually know that the ‘Baroda Bomber’ was once a leg-spinner? Or that his genesis as one of India’s finest fast-bowling all-rounders happened entirely by accident during an unassuming local club match in Baroda?
“How much do people actually know or understand about Hardik?” asks Jitendra Singh with a wry smile. “Very few know the real story behind the cricketer.” Sitting on his laptop is a hidden treasure: rare video footage of a young Hardik bowling leg-spin.
Jitendra witnessed Hardik’s evolution from the very beginning. He played alongside Hardik’s elder brother, Krunal Pandya, and later became Hardik’s coach. “We used to play at the Kiran More Academy in Baroda,” he told RevSportz. “Krunal played there, and Hardik would tag along. We practically lived together. At first, he would just ask random questions about the game. Later, when I transitioned into coaching, he officially enrolled under me.”
But when exactly did Hardik the leg-spinner arrive on the scene? Jitendra chuckles. “Right from the very start!”
Hardik first arrived at the Kiran More Academy around 2010. This was not a fleeting, year-long experiment. For a significant portion of his junior cricket days, Hardik was a dedicated leg-spinner, often bowling in tandem with his close friend and fellow leg-spinner, Shubham Agarwal.
“I used to constantly tell Shubham to watch Hardik’s action,” Jitendra explains. “The sheer force behind his release and the sharp turn he generated were brilliant.”
The story of how he abandoned leg-spin to become a fiery pace-bowling all-rounder is even more astonishing. The turning point came during a club match when Jitendra’s team suddenly found themselves short of fast bowlers. The coach was in a bind. It was Shubham who tipped him off, revealing a well-kept secret: Hardik had been quietly bowling pace in the nets when the coach was not looking.
Left with no other option, a desperate Jitendra decided to test the waters, initially planning to use Hardik merely as a supporting pacer. But the script quickly flipped. Hardik’s raw pace and hostility immediately overshadowed the team’s premier fast bowler.
“There’s a saying in Hindi: ‘Bhaga ke out kiya (getting them out by rushing them with pace). That’s exactly what Hardik did that day,” Jitendra recalled, the memory still vivid. “He picked up five wickets and made the batters suffer. And mind you, the opposition featured Duleep Trophy and Ranji Trophy players.”
Jitendra quickly realised that dominating club matches would not be enough to establish his bright pupil. He immediately approached Baroda’s head coach at the time, Sanath Kumar. Knowing that the country was desperate for a genuine fast-bowling all-rounder, Jitendra urged Sanath to consider Hardik for the state team in his new avatar.
After witnessing the teenager’s blistering pace first-hand, Sanath was convinced. But the road to recognition was still fraught with hurdles. The Baroda Managing Committee intervened, leading to a gruelling two-hour boardroom battle. Sanath had to aggressively defend his decision, painstakingly explaining to the committee why he was selecting a registered leg-spinner to fill a fast bowler’s slot. If one were to dig up the minutes of that meeting today, the entire debate would still be there.
They say you never forget your first love – and for Hardik Pandya, that love is leg-spin.
Even today, when he hits the ground at Baroda’s Reliance Academy to break a sweat, he makes it a point to bowl two or three overs of leg-spin. While the thought of a secret leg-spinner in the ranks is a tempting one, the cricketing fraternity can only be grateful for that local club crisis. After all, that accidental gamble is exactly what gave the modern game one of its most lethal, match-winning fast-bowling all-rounders.
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The post From Leg-Spin to Lethal Pace: How a Local Club Crisis Birthed World’s Best Hardik Pandya appeared first on Sports News Portal | Revsportz.
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