‘Bowling fast is my strength, can’t abandon it’

Pune: Pradeep Dadhe is slowly becoming a key member of the Maharashtra cricket team’s fast-bowling setup.
He has taken 15 wickets in three games this Ranji season at 17.46 with a wicket every seventh over. In the process, the 28-year-old has boosted his credentials within the team after making his Ranji debut in 2016. He has been in and out of the team due to various reasons since.
Life has not been easy for a boy who wanted to bowl fast after competing in karate.Hailing from the Mohol taluka in Solapur district, he lost his father at a young age and came to Pune to become a cricketer. He went to Deccan Gymkhana to enroll but was told that the batches were full.
Hence he went to nearby PYC Hindu Gymkhana.
He rose up the ladder and was picked in the Maharashtra under-19 team soon. He then played for the U-23s before making his first-class debut at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. He completed his B Com graduation from Sinhagad College and represented them in David Cup in local cricket.
The break came in 2015 when he got a contract to play in Mumbai (Times Shield) for DY Patil club, Nerul, and got associated with former India pacer Abey Kuruvilla. His stay at DY Patil also helped him during his rehab at Kokilaben hospital from a stress fracture.
On his recovery from the injury, Dadhe told TOI, “I used to feel pain immediately after delivering the ball. And it played on my mind. Thankfully, I could do swimming, running and squats during this phase to keep myself busy and fit. Dr Vaibhav helped me immensely in this period.”
Picked for MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai in 2017-18, Dadhe had the opportunity to work with Australian legend Glenn McGrath. He opted for a Customs job in Pune through sports quota in 2019. Then, Covid struck.
Dadhe, who changed his residence in Pune on a handful of occasions, went back to his district during the pandemic and practised on cement pitch. He was dropped from the Ranji team for the last match past season, after returning with 0-130 against Vidarbha in Sultanpur. He has been a part of selection trials at Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals but has not got the nod from the IPL teams.
He was not in the scheme of things for Maharashtra’s white-ball games this season. But he came back strongly with a match haul of 9-76 during an away win against Andhra Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy last month.
“I felt particularly bad for not making it to the Maharashtra white-ball teams because India players were a part of our team,” he said.
There is no denying that in the absence of having a ‘stalwart’ status in first-class cricket, being a regular in the state team in white-ball cricket is vital to get an IPL contract.
Despite suffering from the injury, Dadhe’s passion to bowl with extra pace has not diminished. “I won’t hold myself (to bowl just line and length). Bowling fast is my strength and I can’t abandon it. Plus you get only one life to give your all in the chosen field,” he said.
Adding discipline and holding his nerve has also helped him this season. On what kept him going in the tough phases, Dadhe said, “I recalled the good feedback that I had received from well-known names of the game over the years. I also got assurances from the people within the Maharashtra team setup that I was still in the scheme of things.”
If the skinny bowler with a smile of newly-found confidence sticks to his wicket-taking scheme in the remaining two league games against Hyderabad (at Gahunje from Tuesday) and Mumbai (at CCI from next Tuesday), the team’s chances of making it to the knockout stage would stay high.