Debutant Jharkhand pacer Jatin Kumar Pandey rocked the Tamil Nadu batting line-up.
| Photo Credit: M. PERIASAMY
Former Jharkhand pace spearhead Ashish Kumar (36) retired from domestic cricket after a win against Tamil Nadu in the last Ranji season in January at Jamshedpur.
Eight months later, his mentee Jatin Kumar Pandey claimed his maiden First Class five-for (five for 35) on Ranji Trophy debut versus Tamil Nadu here on Friday.
The 21-year-old was inspired to become a fast bowler by Ashish, as both hail from the same tribal-dominated district of Lohardaga in Jharkhand.
“I saw him and started playing cricket, and became a fast bowler. He played Ranji Trophy for ten years. He helped me a lot,” Jatin said.
Asked what excited him about fast bowling, Jatin, who has a long run-up, said: “I like to run fast from that far, bowl fast, and scare the batter!”
He has played a lot of tennis-ball cricket before Ashish noticed his skills and encouraged him to play leather-ball cricket. “I used to have a great arm speed and bowl very fast with the tennis ball. So, he asked me why I don’t play with the leather ball. He said that it’s my future.”
Jatin, who idolises Dale Steyn and watches a lot of his videos, bowls inswing naturally and is learning to bowl outswingers.
Asked if he felt nervous on his debut, he said that he did, but drew confidence from the “high-quality practice” they had in Bengal and Rajkot pre-season.
Published – October 17, 2025 10:07 pm IST
