Gaurav Yadav: Career, Age, Difficulties Faced And Redemption

The Ranji Trophy tournament for the 2024 season has commenced, and people were upset in the first group matches. One of the top dogs in Indian domestic cricket, Delhi, was defeated by Puducherry. With figures of 7-49 and 3-49, Gaurav Yadav was the star performer for Puducherry. One of the rising stars in this year’s Ranji Trophy, Gaurav Yadav, has garnered attention because of his recent performance in this game and the difficulties he had to face in his life. He talks about the politics that go on in the game and why he had to change his team from Madhya Pradesh to Puducherry because of his coach, Chandrakant Pandit, who constantly taunts Gaurav, forcing him to switch to another team.

As per Gaurav, “I have moved this year only. I wasn’t getting enough chances in white-ball there [at MP]. Last year, I was in the squad of 15, but I was made the 16th player on the eve of the match. And throughout the season, I remained the 16th player”

“Myself and the coach were not getting along, so I took the decision to come here. I was the highest-wicket taker in Vijay Hazare for MP before Chandu sir came. Sir completely removed me from the white-ball set-up”.

Early Cricket Career

Gaurav Yadav is a right-arm medium fast bowler and a right-hand batsman who was born in Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh, on 31 Oct 1991 to the home of a farmer. From childhood, he had an interest in cricket; as he grew older, his passion for Cricket also grew. He showed interest in playing cricket professionally, but he didn’t have any prior experience of playing any tournament. He had never even played any form of age-group cricket.

At 21, he travelled to Indore, where he recalls approaching a Cricket academy to ask if he could ever play cricket for a local club, but he was shot down and condemned immediately.

Yadav remembers this incident as the trigger moment for his motivation to become a cricketer. This is when he started playing cricket for the local clubs and made his first-class debut with the Madhya Pradesh team in 2012.

First-Class Cricket Career

After making his first-class debut in 2012, Gaurav Yadav began playing in the Ranji Tournament for the Madhya Pradesh team. However, his initial years were plagued with many difficulties, and injuries played an important role in these difficulties. In a duration of 10 years, from 2012 to 2021, he only played 30 matches for the Madhya Pradesh Senior team. He recalls this time as a tough one due to the various injuries he had to endure. Talking about the time, he said, “You ask me why I’ve played so little, essentially, it’s all these reasons that have played a major part. When you don’t play, your form suffers. When you’re injured, selectors sometimes think if it’s worth the risk.”

However, his career wasn’t all about disappointments and frustration. The fruits of his labour came to fruition when he won the 2021-2022 Ranji Trophy with Madhya Pradesh senior team. In that season, he was one of the best wicket-takers; he took 23 wickets in just 5 games. This made him a big name in the domestic Cricket circuit.

Looking back at the season, Gaurav Yadav said that he thought that he would get new opportunities after this, but that didn’t happen. Moreover, in the next season, he had a great performance but was injured during balling in the quarter-final match of the series. He played in the semi-finals but couldn’t perform well, and the Madhya Pradesh team lost to West Bengal.

Cricket Politics and Move To Puducherry

During his time on the Madhya Pradesh cricket team, Gaurav Yadav faced a lot of cricket politics and hatred. He recalls the time as tough due to the external elements meddling with his cricket career. One of the people who had a personal vendetta against Gaurav Yadav was his teammate and soon-to-be coach Chandrakant Pandit. Gaurav mentions how Pandit never wanted him to succeed and did everything in his power to stop Gaurav’s career from progressing. According to Gaurav Yadav, Pandit once told him, “Ab tereko nahi khilaaunga, aur tu jahan khelega tereko bench karwaaunga”.

This happened even after Gaurav became the leading wicket-taker of the Madhya Pradesh team. He said Pandit never let him play many games and never allowed him to take a trial for IPL and do net bowling.

This is when Gaurav Yadav said enough is enough and started taking matters into his own hands. Pandit once told him that Gaurav would be dropped from the team. This made Gaurav desperate, and somehow, he got in touch with the people from Puducherry, and they were more than happy to take Gaurav Yadav in their team. So, Gaurav started playing for the Puducherry Cricket team.

Now, the current season of the Ranji Trophy has commenced, and in the first group match, Gaurav Yadav has shown everyone why he deserves to be successful. In his first match for the Puducherry cricket team, Yadav took 7 wickets for 49 runs. This has garnered quite a bit of attention to Gaurav Yadav. He has the potential to become one of the best fast bowlers in Indian cricket.