As talk over IPL retentions heats up ahead of the franchises' deadline on October 31, one player sure to be on the radar of several teams is Karnataka's Abhinav Manohar. Coming off a barnstoming season in the Maharaja T20 Trophy, he sat down with Rahul Iyer to talk about his performances, his dream of representing India, and more.
“I know I'm just one or two good IPL seasons away from breaking into at least the India ‘A’, or Indian side".
Abhinav Manohar understands the power of waiting. He’s 30 years old, yet to play first-class cricket, and hadn’t broken into the Karnataka senior squad until three years ago. And yet, he’s one of the uncapped players who’ll be eagerly debated over ahead of the IPL mega-auction.
Manohar is with Gujarat Titans, but with only six retentions per team, a spot isn’t guaranteed: he managed just two appearances this year.
Between the IPL and next season’s player auction, though, Manohar has been making all the right noises. At the Maharaja T20 Trophy, a local T20 competition in his home state, he finished as the second-highest run-scorer, hitting a mind-boggling 52 sixes in 10 matches along the way.
In an exclusive chat with Wisden.com, he talks about his cricketing journey so far, how he unlocked another batting gear, and his ambitions of representing India.
The domestic cricket breakthrough, and changing perceptions
Manohar recently turned 30, but his top-level career is still in its early stages. He represented Karnataka at the U13, U19, U22 and U25 levels, but did not break into the senior squad until he was 27. Even now, he has only played limited-overs cricket for the state.
He puts this down to Karnataka’s brimming talent pool, especially in the batting department, when he was coming through. “At that point it was really tough, because most of the senior bunch [KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, etc] were playing for India, and when they were free, they were playing for the state,” Manohar says.
“It was a bit disappointing after the age group cricket. I did lose heart for a bit, and I had plans of changing states or moving abroad and playing.”
The breakthrough came after the Covid-19-enforced lockdown, when he decided to clear his mind, and stop worrying about proving a point or playing to get selected: “I just played to have fun, and worked on my fitness as well. And then, eventually my stars changed, and it all paid off.”
Read more: Nitish Kumar Reddy interview: "I have just one goal: to be the best all-rounder in the world"
Not only did it all pay off, but it did so in spectacular fashion. On debut in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy pre-quarterfinal against Saurashtra, Manohar walked to the crease in the sixth over with Karnataka at 34-3 in pursuit of 146.
He slammed an unbeaten 70 off 49 balls, containing six sixes and just two fours, to help his side over the line. Only two other batters on his team reached double figures, and the next highest score was 33. Later that year, he earned his first IPL contract with Gujarat Titans, and has gradually become a fixture in the Karnataka white-ball setup.
Despite his big-hitting exploits, though, Manohar is not the biggest fan of his reputation as a ‘finisher’ in T20 cricket: “Over the past two years, I have been going to the [state] selectors and actually asking them almost once in two months, ‘Please give me a chance in red-ball,’ because I know I can make a difference.
“I want to change everybody's mindset, and say that I'm not only a finisher. I can bat in the top order and middle order as well, and actually bat anywhere throughout the 20 overs. And the same thing for the red ball as well, I want to show that I can play that long innings and get my runs.”
His persistence and performances were both rewarded. On October 21, he was named in Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy squad for the team’s third match of the season against Bihar.
