I want to be a complete batter and a complete spinner: Tanush Kotian’s mission statement 

“A great bowler can make the ball talk!”

The wallpaper on his mobile phone has the text embossed next to his off-break-bowling action.

“I keep changing the wallpaper but for the last few weeks, I have stuck to this,” he says.

They used to pen their frame of mind into a diary once upon a time. For Gen Z, the wallpaper is a sneak peek into their thought-process. And the best place to let a cricketer spell out his mindset is… obviously a cricket ground.

Days after he played a pivotal role in ending Mumbai’s 27-year wait for the Irani Cup, one sits down with Tanush Kotian — the lanky all-rounder from Vikhroli, a Mumbai suburb — at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy ground.

The facility — a breeding ground for age-group and senior cricketers alike – has been his comfort zone. But it has taken him a struggle of well over a decade to earn his comfort zone.

By the time you read this, he will be a member of India-A — the almost-there group – on its shadow tour of Australia ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But making it to the national selectors’ targeted pool has been a topsy-turvy ride.

Flashback one

Two years ago, Kotian — who turned 26 last month — was in unsure territory — the kind of position that he loves to have a batter in, ball in hand.

He had emerged as the Player of the Match in the 2022 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final, picking up three for 15 and sealing Mumbai’s win with a six in the last over. Several franchises called him for trials ahead of the Indian Premier League auction. He was billed as one of the possible entrants into the crorepati club.

But a few hours before the IPL auction, disaster struck. The franchises were informed that Kotian’s bowling action was seen as “suspect” although he had never been reported in any domestic game. He later discovered that a match referee, in consultation with the on-field umpires, had found just one ball suspicious during the SMA Trophy.

Kotian was never barred from bowling, but that was it! The franchises’ interest dropped.

“Now when I look back, I realise that the whole episode kind of triggered my will to succeed at any cost. Someone else may have dropped his shoulders after such an episode but I got more determined to prove all my detractors wrong and show my real mettle,” says Kotian.

Earlier in 2022, Kotian — along with fellow all-rounder Shams Mulani — had bailed Mumbai out of a precarious situation against Goa in the Ranji Trophy. That innings of 98 set Mumbai on course for the final and dispelled all the doubts over whether he had it in him at a higher level.

Flashback two

A majority of cricketers in India — especially in Mumbai — are made because of their fathers wanting their kids — not just sons now, thankfully — to achieve what they couldn’t.

Tanush was no different. Karunakar — a legend in tennis-ball cricket, ‘tennis cricket’ in Bambaiya parlance — was a formative influence. Like his father, a young Tanush used to hit the ball hard and run in and bowl as fast as he could. But the youngster gradually developed a fondness for turning the ball. And unlike most pushy fathers, Karunakar let him be.

“He has always been supportive, never pushy,” stresses Tanush. “And him being a cricketer has always been a help. He has helped me analyse my game better. And he knows what’s going through my head after a good or a bad day at the ground.”

Switching to a “cricket school” — the VN Sule Guruji School in Dadar — in the seventh grade made him realise the hard yards he needed to put in. “Till then, I was among the better ones in and around Vikhroli. Once I started playing in the top-tier of inter-school, I realised that I was one among dozens of cricketers who were competing to break into Mumbai’s age-group teams. I had to work harder than ever before if I had to survive first, and then succeed, at that level.”

Working hard was never going to be a problem, especially for a teenager willing to spend 13 to 14 hours away from home every day in his quest to convert his passion into a profession.

Flashback three

Given these struggles, it was no surprise that Karunakar shed tears of happiness at the Wankhede Stadium this March. Tanush had not only helped Mumbai regain the Ranji Trophy but was also adjudged the Player of the Tournament.

“That has been his proudest moment so far. I just hope he will have a few more moments to savour in the next few years,” says Tanush.

A return of 502 runs — including a hundred while batting at No. 10 — and 29 wickets catapulted him into national reckoning. It also led Rajasthan Royals to sign him, as a replacement for Adam Zampa, a welcome turn of events after the snub of 2022.

Kotian got just one opportunity to showcase his talent, that too as an opening batter, and wasn’t required to bowl. But right through those two months, he chased the three senior spinners — “Ash bhai, Yuzi bhai and Keshav” — for what he terms “learnings for a lifetime”.

“Those two months were an education. When you have Ashwin, Chahal and Maharaj to learn from — not just by watching them prepare and bowl but even available to chat and help you out in the nets — what more can you ask for?”

The present: batting or bowling all-rounder?

While he was thrilled with his IPL experience, the manner in which he was utilised against Punjab Kings in April also led to murmurs in Indian cricket circles about whether he was a batting or bowling all-rounder.

The man himself wasn’t surprised. After all, he had been dealing with such queries ever since he broke into Mumbai’s under-14 squad in 2013. Early in his career, when he started visiting coach Rajesh Sanil’s nets for batting drills, Sanil gave him advice that he has etched onto his mind just like the words from the wallpaper on his phone.

Learning tree: At Rajasthan Royals, Kotian made the most of the opportunity to pick R. Ashwin’s brain. | Photo credit: Emmanual Yogini

“Rajesh Sanil sir told me it doesn’t matter what number you are batting at, treat yourself as a batsman and build your innings accordingly. Even while bowling, he and Pappa [father] keep telling me to think like a batter so that I can set the batter up,” he says.

“In short, all along I have been told and have thought that I don’t want to be a batting all-rounder or a bowling all-rounder. No one should take me lightly in any department. Call me a 50-50 or whatever, I want to be a complete batter and a complete spinner.”

As he leaves to pick up his kit-bag, one can’t help but think that, given the challenges he has overcome and his simple, clear approach to cricket, Kotian will do everything in his power to achieve that ambition.