At Rajasthan’s Ranji Trophy league match against Uttar Pradesh in Kanpur last month, Aniket Choudhary picked up his first five-wicket haul of the season and walked away with a worn-out cricket ball as a souvenir. Three weeks later, he has added five more balls, exhibiting varying degree of degradation but signifying the same feat: a five-for, to his collection. The latest came in his possession on Saturday evening after his sensational spell of seam bowling shot out Haryana for a paltry score of 118 in the first innings on Day 1 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. Since Kanpur, these prized possessions have been travelling with him in his kit bag. After his exploits on Saturday, he plans to place them in his showcase at his residence in Jaipur’s Vaishali Nagar. But such is the purple patch he is in with the red cherry that he might soon to have to create more space to accommodate more mementos.
Just to put things into perspective, the burly left-arm pacer has snapped up 6 five-fors in the last seven innings, and with 39 scalps in total, he is perched on the fifth position in the list of the highest wicket-takers this season. But all others ahead of him are playing in Plate Group.
Since his debut seven years ago, Choudhary has made steady progress to cement his spot in the Rajasthan team as a talented seamer, who could rattle up opposition batsmen with pace and disconcerting bounce. The fact that he was a left-armer added a certain layer of intrigue to him. This played a role when the Indian team management under coach Anil Kumble summoned him as a nets bowler to prepare the batsmen for New Zealand’s Neil Wagner ahead of the three Test series at home in 2016.
Another reason for the 28-year-old’s turnaround can be put forward to his change in mentality. For long, he was seen as the support bowler to the seasoned Pankaj Singh, happy to bowl defensive lines. Singh’s departure to Puducherry brought about a shift in his attitude. “We keep having discussions about bowling even after I left Rajasthan. One of the most impressive things about him is that he is no longer a one-track, one-trick pony anymore. With his inswinger, he has expanded his repertoire without sacrificing his pace,” Singh says.
What has also helped Choudhury blossom is the presence of his left-arm bowling partner Tanvir Ul-Haq. Even though they have vastly contrasting bowling styles — Tanvir is an out-and-out swing bowler, while Choudhury relies on seam movement, they feed off each other’s successes. Like Choudhury, Tanvir, too, is in the middle of an incredible run of form, having prised out 35 scalps in the season so far. With 74 scalps between them, they have been instrumental in catapulting Rajasthan to the top of the points table, with five wins and are already relishing at the prospects of breaking into the knock-outs.
