After a long wait,Revankar regains his touch

“I was really struggling this season with just one 40-plus score in the under-22 matches. I knew I had to start from the basics to get my rhythm back. I’m glad to be among runs once again,” said Revankar,who was declared man of the match for his valuable knock.

The 21-year-old had suffered a groin injury while playing for Karnatak Sporting Association in the last game of the Kanga League earlier last year. “That kept me away from Times Shield,where I play for BPCL. I also missed couple of under-22 matches in the CK Nayudu Trophy,” informed Revankar who had a stint with the Mumbai Ranji team in 2007.

Finally what helped him to get back his touch was something that had impressed his coach Satish Samant when he had seen him for the first time. “When I started playing for my school IES New English (Bandra),our coach Samant had told me he liked the way I always played correct shots without going for flashy strokes even on loose balls. Samant advised me to improve upon that aspect,” informed Revankar.

But interestingly,Revankar’s biggest break of his career so far has come in a format not known to appreciate steady and disciplined batting when he was signed by Rajasthan Royals for the Indian Premier League last year. “They offered me a three-year contact. But I did not get a chance to play any of the matches,” says Revankar.

But even being in the dressing room of a team which had many international stars led by Australian spin legend Shane Warne,gave him enough insight on the game was played at the highest level. “I was surprised to learn that for these stars,it was more of a mind game and less on skills,” points out Revankar.

Narrating one of such enriching experiences,Revankar says that he was surprised once when his skipper Warne came out with a plan to utilise the slower delivery concept in the very first over of the match. “Pakistan seamer Sohail Tanvir was a very effective slow ball bowler and during a team meeting before the match,Warne asked him just to bowl first and then the last three overs. It was amazing,that plan suited Tanvir very well,” recalled Revankar.

During his days in the net sessions with Rajasthan Royals,Revankar recalls how he was overwhelmed by a nice gesture from another Pakistani star Younis Khan. “I was asked to bowl to him but after sometime,Khan came over to me and asked if I could also bat,when I told him that I was a batsman,he offered to give me batting practice and started bowling. I was surprised to see that despite being a star,he was so down to earth.”

Talking about his brief stint with Mumbai Ranji team in 2007,Revankar says that after scoring two consecutive hundreds for DY Patil the Times Shield ‘A’ division,he got a call to the Mumbai Ranji squad. “I was with the team for the four matches that they played against Karnataka,Tamil Nadu,Delhi and Maharashtra. But with players like Wasim Jaffer,Ajinkya Rahane,Amol Muzumdar and Sahil Kukreja,it was difficult for me to get into playing XI. So then our coach Pravin Amre asked me to play with the Mumbai under-22 team instead for some time,” informed Revankar.

But his stint in the Mumbai Ranji dressing room also made him richer by the experience. “There in the very first match against Karnataka,I got to know how planning was done for different opposition players according to their form,” says Revankar. “Rahul Dravid was going through a very bad patch then. So our team decided to bowl him to the stumps and not give him any room to go for his shots. And it clicked.”

Revankar,however,says the biggest thing he learned in Mumbai Ranji dressing room was the strict discipline. “Even the big players were not spared at the slightest of lackadaisical approach shown at the net sessions,” states the lad,who is now bidding his time to showcase his talent on the big stage.

“Keep scoring and things will fall in place,is what my coach tells me and I know that is the only way to go up.”