‘My main weapon has been consistency’ – Saransh Jain on how he made it to Indian Test squad at 33

Saransh Jain is among the latest entrants into the Indian Test squad, having been picked for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. He will be playing as an off-spin-bowling all-rounder, and he has got the opportunity majorly because of years of hard work in first-class cricket.

During a recent interaction, Saransh revealed how his journey began as a young kid going to a cricket club with his father, Subodh Jain – a former Ranji player himself – and his elder brother. This later transpired into a Ranji Trophy debut, where Saransh picked a fifer on debut against a power-packed Tamil Nadu unit. Since then, Saransh says he has adapted to being disciplined in his approach towards the game.

“In the beginning, I used to go to the club with my dad and elder brother. My brother played with a leather ball, but I was very young, so I just went along to play with a tennis ball and hang around. As I grew older, I started playing with the leather ball and played at all the age-group levels. In 2014-15, I made my Ranji debut and took a five-wicket haul in my very first game against Tamil Nadu, a side which featured senior players like Dinesh Karthik. That made me realise cricket isn’t as difficult if you put in hard work and are disciplined,” Saransh told via JioStar.

“From then on, I knew if I wanted to play at a higher level, I had to focus on things which I can control. I kept doing that, and today I’m here representing India. Ever since my age-group days, my main weapon has been consistency, to be able to hit the same spot repeatedly because the batsman will eventually take a risk to score. I’m not overthinking how the pitches will behave in Sri Lanka or how many wickets I’ll get; I just want to stick to my basics,” he added.

Saransh also revealed who his idols in cricket and life in general have been growing up. He gives big chunk of credit to father Subodh, who paved the way for his cricketing dream. Beyond family, he also looks up to Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin as his off-spin mentors. He also shared an anecdote of advice he received from Harbhajan during a camp at the BCCI Centre of Excellence, Bengaluru.

“I started playing cricket because of my father, who is a former Ranji player himself. I play cricket for him, and he is my ultimate idol. As for bowling, Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin are my idols. While I haven’t spoken to them extensively, I’ve learned a massive amount just by watching their bowling clips. During the one-week camp at the Centre of Excellence, I learned a lot from Harbhajan Singh.

“Skill-wise, they told me I didn’t need major tweaks since I already have plenty of match experience. But one piece of advice from him really stuck with me, “You don’t have to lose something to gain something. You have to put in the work.’ That stayed with me, and whenever I push myself through hard work, those words resonate deeply.”

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