Young all-rounder Cooper Connolly has explicitly modeled his batting technique, stance, and even jersey number on his childhood hero and Western Australian mentor, Shaun Marsh. The connection was cemented when Connolly tonned up for Punjab Kings, the franchise where Marsh first broke into the global spotlight in 2008.
Save for Connolly’s shaggy surfer-blonde hair, their idiosyncrasies make it hard to tell one apart from the other. It could prove to be the case for Sagar Solanki as well, for besides his curly crop, there is not much to separate his cricketing persona from Axar Patel.
He almost walks to the bowling crease just like his role model, relying solely on the gather for momentum. The resemblance feels uncanny while tracking his load-up phase all the way through to the delivery stride, however the similarities continue to strike even after the ball leaves his hand. The three-quarter length that consigned Jonny Bairstow to a pair in Ahmedabad, the inward drift which has caught the fancy of analyst Jarrod Kimber, and the unerring lines that keep the stumps in play throughout.
Both his dismissals against Jabalpur Royals Lions were an ode to his accuracy, as Abhishek Bhandari lost his poles attempting a reverse sweep while the flat trajectory had Vedant Awasthi camping back to a full delivery.
The importance of these back-to-back wickets at the end of the PowerPlay cannot be overstated, for Abhishek was dealing in boundaries, including a six off Sagar. Vedant, a product of the Player Development Program, was mighty impressive the other day against Bhopal Leopards, scoring 60 off 34 to seal a chase of 224. “I was told to attack the stumps early on. I was getting plenty of zip from the surface. The ball was skidding, so I used the pitch to my advantage,’’ Sagar highlighted.
Life sucked out of their middle order by the 13 dots that Sagar produced in his first three overs, Jabalpur Royal Lions had to make an urgent call of duty to troubleshooter Ritik Tada. He joined forces with captain Rahul Batham to set a formidable target of 225, yet with Akshat Raghuwanshi at the peak of his powers Rewa Jaguars romped home without as much as breaking a sweat.
It was the fifth occasion in seven matches where they transcended 200, with Sagar’s wonders with the willow a contributing factor. His entry points have been different, akin to the floater role that Axar assumes, but the effectiveness has remained the same no matter what the batting position.
Sagar is strong down the ground, but his pick-up pull against Ishan Afridi has been the highlight among a broad range of shots that’ve helped him accrue 209 runs in 6 games at a strike rate of 188. In his two partnerships with Anant Verma worth 100(48) and 46(23) the hustle between the sticks stood out. He gets through his overs as quickly as Ravindra Jadeja, whom he’s grown up following. If an aspirant idolizes India’s finest fielder you can bet good money on the fact that they would be a livewire themselves.
Sagar saved a certain boundary at cover point before covering decent ground at long-on to set an example as a senior member of the side who has debuted for Madhya Pradesh across formats. “There are certified fitness trainers in the Rewa Jaguars camp so we benefit from their expertise a lot in terms of strength and conditioning as well as diet,” Sagar informs.
Jadeja is widely considered a premier find of the IPL. He was part of the solo winning campaign Rajasthan Royals have been able to script in 18 editions of the cash-rich league, which has historically been dominated by Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, a side he’s won a trifecta of titles with. Shane Warne dubbed Jadeja a rockstar, a label famously recalled on air when Usman Khawaja breached an unwritten cricketing rule: never take Jadeja’s arm on.
An active consumer of content related to the elite all-rounder, Sagar is harbouring aspirations of an IPL breakthrough based on impactful consistency in MPLT20. ‘’My ambition is clear. Around a dozen players from our state are involved in IPL, half of whom can credit their rise to MPL. My goal is to excel in all three departments and impress the scouts so that I’m called up for the trials,’’ Sagar said.
He is the complete package. An intelligent left-arm spinner possessing the toolkit – usage of the box to create angles, pace variations, a stable run-up that enables hawk-eyed observation of the batter’s movements – to bowl at different junctures. An enforcer moving up and down the order as per the demand of the situation, much like Axar.
“Having experienced campaigners such as Rajat Patidar, Saransh Jain, and Kumar Kartikeya around me in the Madhya Pradesh fold has been a blessing. They’ve reinforced the idea that I have the capabilities required to be a flexible operator,’’ Sagar notes.
While his ubiquitous presence on the park lends itself to comparisons with Axar, Sagar fanboys over Jadeja in equal measure. ‘’They are my favourite cricketers. I don’t necessarily copy their attributes but I am deeply inspired by the way they conduct themselves on the ground. I love how they influence the action significantly with their skillset. Be it batting, bowling, or fielding, I regard Axar and Jaddu bhai as top players. Their performances motivate me a great deal.’’ Sagar opines.
Having spent his formative days in Perth’s northern suburbs, Connolly became the first 16-year-old since Marsh to score an Under-19 World Cup fifty and the youngest Australian man since Ricky Ponting to score an ODI ton. Mitchell Marsh is bullish the prodigy who worshipped his brother could follow in the footsteps of Glenn Maxwell.
“A middle-order player that bowls really handy spin, they don’t grow on trees. The sky is the limit,’’ the junior Marsh felt. Additionally, the statement holds true for Sagar, whose eyes twinkle with the spark of a cherished dream.
