For Badrinath, life begins at 30

When S Badrinath walked in to bat during the T20 international against West Indies, India were 48 for 2 after 6.5 overs. A pretty normal start by T20 standards but before he could even settle in, India had lost Parthiv Patel and Suresh Raina in quick time.

Most players in the Indian team would have looked to fight fire with fire – this was T20 after all. But Badrinath belongs to a different era. He chose to consolidate. The 30-year-old has done the hard yards in the Ranji Trophy – having made his debut a decade ago – and his game isn’t just about the big shots. And only now is he realising that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

In fact even during the Indian Premier League, the commentators would suddenly start talking about the high elbow and the straight bat when Badrinath would come in to bat. The right-hander’s 396 runs came at an average of 56.57 and a strike-rate of 126.51.

The amazing thing about his run during the IPL was that he hit 38 fours but just 9 sixes. If you compare that to Chris Gayle’s 44 sixes during the tournament, it is clear that they were playing a different game. But that’s the thing: Badrinath doesn’t mind playing the different game.

He doesn’t mind taking his time to settle down; he doesn’t mind playing himself in by taking singles and twos; he doesn’t mind letting the others hit the big shots till he feels it’s time. He’s comfortable in his space and it’s showing.

“I usually take time to settle myself in but I have worked out a theory with which I approach the urgency of Twenty20 cricket," said Badrinath after his 43 runs earned him the man-of-match award in India’s 16-run win over the hosts in the only Twenty20 match of the series.

“My initial attempt is to rotate the strike and I then employ this scoop shot to shift gears,” stated Badrinath.

“I followed the same theory into the middle today,” he further explained.

The scoop shot which Badrinath mentioned is the rather inside out chip over the infield on the off-side to go with his powerful steers and cuts.

Badrinath is an oddity in this young team where the others haven’t even played half as much domestic cricket as him. Even Harbhajan Singh, who has been around for a long time, hardly plays in the Ranji Trophy anymore.

“I don’t see it as a junior and senior kind of thing. All I want to do is to perform to my best,” he said.

And he was helped in his goal by the fates. Ravi Rampaul had him caught at short extra-cover when Badrinath had 25 runs against his name in the 16th over.

“I had started to walk towards the pavilion when umpire asked me to stay put as the delivery had been referred to the third umpire for a suspected no-ball.

“As luck would have it, it indeed was a no-ball and I was relieved I could resume my innings,” he said.

Of the dozen more balls Badrinath was to face during his innings, he smashed three fours and ended up with a respectable 43 from 37 balls.

The first ODI on Monday will be his first game for India in three years. Over the next 12 days, Badrinath would be more than doubling the three one-day internationals he has so far played for India.

And there is every chance he would add a fair tally to his meager total of 39 runs.

With inputs from PTI