How Kotak earned the reputation of a dour batsman

I remember the journey to my first match more vividly than my Ranji Trophy debut. Ranji Trophy was the thing then. Of course the ultimate achievement was to play for India, but Ranji was the big step up from limited-overs and Under-19 cricket.

In 1992, though, I had had a bumper Under-19 season. We won four zonal matches, and I scored 400 runs in them. We used to get more matches only if we qualified for the next round, and for the first time, Saurashtra Under-19 had qualified.

I might have scored runs in Under-19, but I was still not being allowed to bat higher than No. 7 in the inter-district matches. In the final, though, I got my opportunity. Rajkot had to bat an awkward half an hour before stumps. We lost two wickets in two overs, and there was a sense of panic in the dressing room. A senior asked me to pad up. I was not quite the nightwatchman but for the seniors I was doing precisely that job. I somehow managed to survive that evening, and refused to get out the next day.

Now that I had scored 140 in the districts final they were forced to pick me in the Ranji squad at least. I think Niranjan Shah - the president and patriarch of Saurashtra Cricket Association - had a role to play in it. After that districts final he came up to me, congratulated me, and told me my performances weren't going unnoticed.

It was not easy breaking into that Saurashtra squad as a specialist batsman. We had Nilesh Odedra, Sudhir Tanna, Bimal Jadeja, Atul Pandya and Brij Dutta. The other reason why it was difficult to break in was the zonal system. We used to get only four matches. If we wanted to play more, we had to qualify to the Super League. We were a weak team, and hardly used to qualify.

Two matches came and went, but I was nowhere near making my debut. The third one was against the much-feared Bombay. In the lead-up to the match I was taken aside and told, "Look we have some issues with openers. We might give you a chance to open the innings this match. They have Salil Ankola, Abey Kuruvilla and Raju Kulkarni. Only one zonal match is left, and we have no chance of qualifying for the Super League. So now if you fail and get dropped, we don't want you to go around blaming us for making you open. We are not forcing you to open."

I didn't think twice. I said I will open. Luckily, on the eve of the match, Brij Dutta came down with typhoid and they didn't shuffle with the openers. They asked me to bat at No. 5, and I was relieved. I was now going to play for Saurashtra. On my scooter I lugged the kit and reached Rajkot Municipal Ground - formally known as Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground - and got ready for the match. Bombay didn't play Kuruvilla. We won the toss, elected to bat on a flat pitch, but Ankola and Sanjay Patil had us down at 26 for 3 in no time. It would become 35 for 4 soon, but before that I got my first taste of first-class cricket.

I clearly remember the first ball I faced was from Ankola. It was outside off, and I let it go. Now I was an awkward batsman. Over my career I earned the reputation for being a dour batsman who played at very few deliveries. The only catch was, I was strong off the pads. The second ball, Ankola tried to bowl straight at the stumps. It is a blur now. I brought down the bat, and closed the face. And the ball absolutely flew to fine leg for four. I had played some pace bowling until then, but I realised then that this was serious cricket.

I played cautiously, saw Ankola off, and scored 76, although that was not enough to give us a lead. However, I couldn't be dropped for the next match. It began a string of seven consecutive Ranji matches in which I scored at least fifty in at least one innings of the match. It was in my eighth match, two years later, against Maharashtra, that I failed to score even one fifty, getting out for 28 and 24. Two matches later, against Baroda, I scored my first century.