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The Ranji Trophy was introduced in 1934. 46 triple centuries have been scored in the 87 years of its existence. Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma, Hanuma Vihari, Mayank Agarwal - many current Indian cricket team stars have notched up triple tons in the competition.
But one particular triple century, scored against Services on 20 October 2016, stands out. Classy Goa southpaw Sagun Kamat, who came in at the fall of state legend Swapnil Asnodkar with the score on 5/1, stitched together a 237-run partnership for the second wicket en route to an individual score of 304*.
The historic knock didn't come as a surprise to close followers of the game. After all, with thousands of runs under his belt at the first-class level, Kamat was a Ranji veteran with oodles of experience. In fact, he had made his debut back in the 2000/01 season as a 16-year-old.
"I didn't know what the Ranji Trophy was all about; I only knew it was a FC competition. It was a blessing in disguise to play at 16 because there was no pressure. There were no expectations and everything was smooth. I went out there, played the game and came back to have fun with my friends," says Kamat in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda.
Coming from a small state like Goa, Kamat found it tough to scale the next level in domestic cricket. He illustrates how he put immense pressure on himself to make the most of his evident talent.
"Once I started to know what the Ranji Trophy actually was and its impact, I started putting pressure on myself saying I wanted to play at a higher level, at least for the South Zone side. It was very tough during our time, with teams like Chennai, Karnataka and Hyderabad, which were very strong then. That put extra pressure on me that I had to deliver," he reminisces.
Unfortunately for Kamat, the weight of expectations bogged him down, causing him to lose sight of why he started playing the game in the first place. The freedom of a carefree youngster was replaced by the resigned duress of an underachieving ace.
"It didn't help me at all. The next 3-4 years of my life, the pressure of doing well was so much that I didn't know what was happening with me. I completely lost direction and forgot how I used to be when I started Ranji Trophy. And I was completely succumbing to pressure, simply because of the pressure I was putting on myself," Kamat recollects.
Stints with KKR and DD punctuated Sagun Kamat's prolific FC career
When he was in his prime as a batsman, Sagun Kamat finally got a massive breakthrough. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) took a gamble on him ahead of the 2010 Indian Premier League (IPL), and it seemed like he'd imitate the feats of compatriots Swapnil Asnodkar and Shadab Jakati in the prestigious tournament.
"When I was 26 or 27, I was given a contract by KKR in 2010. Makarand Waingankar, who was the talent director at the time, spotted me after I did well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali for South Zone. I went to KKR's camp and it changed me as a player. Ganguly was the captain, Dav Whatmore was the coach, Wasim Akram was the bowling coach. That setup helped me," recalls Kamat.
However, despite the endorsement of former India captain Sourav Ganguly, nothing came of the KKR stint. Kamat didn't find a place in a team that had Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Brad Hodge and Manoj Tiwary among others.
"KKR was so strong at the time. I did well against the Champions League T20 teams, and I thought I would play the IPL that year. Ganguly too was impressed and told me that I'd play the IPL. But then, we had such a strong team with Gayle and McCullum. Me, coming from a place like Goa, it's very difficult to make the team," Kamat says.
Kamat fought tooth and nail for another IPL opportunity by piling on the runs across formats in domestic cricket. The Delhi Capitals (then Daredevils) called him for a trial after Goa won the South Zone leg of the 2014 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. But the 38-year-old, who believes that the state needs to qualify for the knockouts in order for its players to be recognized, couldn't kick on from the chance.
"I was approached by Delhi Daredevils when we won the South Zone tournament and lost in the national quarter-finals. I was hoping I'd get a look-in in the next year. And in the 50-over tournament, I scored 92* and [Sridharan] Sriram was there. He was a scout at the time and I was called for a trial. But nothing happened from there on," Kamat states.
How Sachin Tendulkar's "beautiful" article revitalized Sagun Kamat's batting
It wasn't easy for Sagun Kamat to put his head down and look to knock the IPL door down once again. But like most of India's cricketing population, he found inspiration from Sachin Tendulkar, and entered a purple patch soon after. The former Goa captain tallied over 2200 runs over a three-season span, with one prolific campaign in particular yielding 800 runs.
"Another thing that helped me was a beautiful article written by Sachin Tendulkar. In that, he emphasized on being in the present. Those words were easy to hear, but they were very difficult to execute. Once I began to master that strategy, batting became much easier. There was no pressure; it was just one ball at a time. I started enjoying batting, and everything clicked after that," says Kamat.
And although an IPL call-up didn't manifest itself again, with him being on the wrong side of 30, Kamat made India Blue's squad for the Deodhar Trophy and continued his relentless run-scoring for Goa.
In a Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-final against Orissa, Kamat dazzled with an unbeaten 92 as Goa fell one run short of a historic win. In the 2015-16 Ranji season, he notched up 163 against Himachal Pradesh on a green top after his team was reduced to 19/4.
But after the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy campaign, Kamat knew it was time to walk away. Goa had been relegated to the Plate Group under his captaincy, and the veteran decided that the youngsters could benefit from playing lesser opposition.
"We were relegated from the league. Swapnil, Shadab and Saurabh had retired. I thought it was time for the youngsters to establish themselves against the smaller teams. It wasn't tough to make the decision. At 36, you don't see a point if the state is not going forward," elucidates Kamat.
"I wasn't in favor of the decision" - Sagun Kamat on Goa dropping senior players
A few years ago, the Goa Cricket Association decided to move towards a team for the future by dropping Jakati, Asnodkar and Saurabh Bandekar. Although Kamat survived the axe, both his performances and those of the team dipped in the absence of the biggest trendsetters in the history of the state's cricket.
"I wasn't in the favor of the decision. The players had done it in the past and I was sure they'd come back and do it in the future as well. I think the state could have treated them in a much better manner. Everyone goes through bad phases, and the association needs to back them. But they had clear plans and conveyed those to us; it was upto us whether we wanted to continue playing," says Kamat.
After retiring from cricket, Kamat has diverted his attention to coaching much like his peers. He points out that age played a factor in his decision, but highlights that incredible young talents like Suyash Prabhudessai - who is part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore - and Snehal Kauthankar need guidance.
"The culture of Bombay, for example, and Goa is completely different. In Bombay, age doesn't matter as long as you're performing. But in Goa, it isn't like that. I'm definitely interested in a coaching role. Whatever little we have achieved, we want to relay the experiences to the younger generation and help them grow," he insists.
The glitzy spectacle that is the IPL has pushed the Ranji Trophy and other domestic competitions into taking a backseat as far as national selection is concerned.
Kamat, himself a Ranji stalwart who didn't play in the IPL, believes that this isn't a good sign for Indian cricket. However, he is happy that Abhimanyu Easwaran and Arzan Nagwaswalla were called up to the Test squad as reserves for the England tour.
"Players who've been playing well at the Ranji Trophy level need to be given recognition in the form of an India cap. Not everyone will be able to play the IPL on a consistent basis. Ranji needs to be given more weightage when it comes to picking players for the longest format of the game," believes Kamat.
The 38-year-old, who scored more than 8,500 runs over the course of a glorious 20-year-long career, has some final words of advice for aspiring cricketers.
"Learn and become better. That's what cricket is all about. You'll have good days and bad days. Just make sure that you love this game. If you don't love this game, it kills you. So much expectations from teams, parents, well-wishers; it'll lead to depressing moments if you don't love the game. In that moment, you forget about everything else in life. Cricket has taught me everything about life I need to know," Kamat poignantly signs off.
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