<p>When Surendra Bhave played his last Ranji Trophy match in 2001, he made a little promise to himself that he wouldn't be a "bitter former cricketer." Bhave, a prolific opener from Maharashtra in the late 1980s and 90s, was one of the several Indian batsmen who missed an Indian cap despite richly deserving it.</p>.<p>The numbers don't lie in his credentials either. In 97 first-class matches since his debut in 1986-87, he accumulated nearly 8000 runs at an impressive average of over 58 with 28 hundreds and 27 half-centuries. Out of 28 tons, he converted seven of them into double centuries with a highest of 292 against South Zone in a Duleep Trophy match in Rourkela.</p>.<p>What makes Bhave's statistics even more impressive is he was an opener. And it's a bit perplexing because Bhave was at his peak when the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and K Srikkanth had retired a few years apart. The closest he came to an India cap was when he was picked for a second-string Indian team for a SAARC tournament in Dhaka. Bhave had impressed with scores of 81 and 42 against Sri Lanka and Pakistan respectively before the event was called off following riots. </p>.<p>It's, therefore, a little difficult to understand the exclusion of such a consistent performer. </p>.<p>"The selectoral part during that time wasn't as evolved as it is today, and a lot of people have suffered because of this 'one-match dilemma'", Bhave points out. "The thing is you build up for the entire season and then fail in a crunch match, and it almost went back to zero those days; like you went back to the first match of the next season to start scoring centuries again. That match usually would be a Duleep Trophy game or if you are really unfortunate, it would be an Irani Cup match where you would be nicked off early. You may have had 700-800 runs in a season but one failure would set you back. So that, I think, consumed a lot of players," explains the right-hander, a technically sound batsman.</p>.<p>Another cheap jibe (beer-talk as he puts it) thrown at him to undermine his batting was "pata-wicket batsman" (flat-track bully). It's true, Bhave did score a lot of runs on the Nehru Stadium pitch, considered a shirt-front, but more than half his runs came away from it.</p>.<p>"No one told me so (pata) on my face, to be honest," says Bhave. "Maybe someone in Mumbai started this campaign (laughs)... Maharashtra-Mumbai rivalry was quite bitter those days. It's no longer there now, it's relevant now. But it's a fact that I did score heavily against them." </p>.<p>Bhave admits he did chase the Indian cap "madly" but didn't want to carry on with the disappointment of not getting it. Post his playing career, he has been a successful selector and coach. </p>.<p>"I took great pride and pleasure in winning matches for Maharashtra," he notes.</p>.<p>"I mean it wouldn't have been possible for me to score seven double centuries, if I didn't love the game. And the respect I won on the way from some of the greatest players in Indian cricket... They thought I was their equal. When I played my last Ranji match in 2001, I made a little promise to myself and said 'I don't want to be a bitter former cricketer, and if I have to pass on anything good to the next generation of Maharashtra or anywhere I coach, then I have got to leave this excess baggage behind.'</p>.<p>"I chased the Indian cap madly, but I was never bitter about not playing for the country," he signs off.</p>
<p>When Surendra Bhave played his last Ranji Trophy match in 2001, he made a little promise to himself that he wouldn't be a "bitter former cricketer." Bhave, a prolific opener from Maharashtra in the late 1980s and 90s, was one of the several Indian batsmen who missed an Indian cap despite richly deserving it.</p>.<p>The numbers don't lie in his credentials either. In 97 first-class matches since his debut in 1986-87, he accumulated nearly 8000 runs at an impressive average of over 58 with 28 hundreds and 27 half-centuries. Out of 28 tons, he converted seven of them into double centuries with a highest of 292 against South Zone in a Duleep Trophy match in Rourkela.</p>.<p>What makes Bhave's statistics even more impressive is he was an opener. And it's a bit perplexing because Bhave was at his peak when the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and K Srikkanth had retired a few years apart. The closest he came to an India cap was when he was picked for a second-string Indian team for a SAARC tournament in Dhaka. Bhave had impressed with scores of 81 and 42 against Sri Lanka and Pakistan respectively before the event was called off following riots. </p>.<p>It's, therefore, a little difficult to understand the exclusion of such a consistent performer. </p>.<p>"The selectoral part during that time wasn't as evolved as it is today, and a lot of people have suffered because of this 'one-match dilemma'", Bhave points out. "The thing is you build up for the entire season and then fail in a crunch match, and it almost went back to zero those days; like you went back to the first match of the next season to start scoring centuries again. That match usually would be a Duleep Trophy game or if you are really unfortunate, it would be an Irani Cup match where you would be nicked off early. You may have had 700-800 runs in a season but one failure would set you back. So that, I think, consumed a lot of players," explains the right-hander, a technically sound batsman.</p>.<p>Another cheap jibe (beer-talk as he puts it) thrown at him to undermine his batting was "pata-wicket batsman" (flat-track bully). It's true, Bhave did score a lot of runs on the Nehru Stadium pitch, considered a shirt-front, but more than half his runs came away from it.</p>.<p>"No one told me so (pata) on my face, to be honest," says Bhave. "Maybe someone in Mumbai started this campaign (laughs)... Maharashtra-Mumbai rivalry was quite bitter those days. It's no longer there now, it's relevant now. But it's a fact that I did score heavily against them." </p>.<p>Bhave admits he did chase the Indian cap "madly" but didn't want to carry on with the disappointment of not getting it. Post his playing career, he has been a successful selector and coach. </p>.<p>"I took great pride and pleasure in winning matches for Maharashtra," he notes.</p>.<p>"I mean it wouldn't have been possible for me to score seven double centuries, if I didn't love the game. And the respect I won on the way from some of the greatest players in Indian cricket... They thought I was their equal. When I played my last Ranji match in 2001, I made a little promise to myself and said 'I don't want to be a bitter former cricketer, and if I have to pass on anything good to the next generation of Maharashtra or anywhere I coach, then I have got to leave this excess baggage behind.'</p>.<p>"I chased the Indian cap madly, but I was never bitter about not playing for the country," he signs off.</p>