19/10/2020
Such is the legacy of Sourav Ganguly, that any B**g playing the game is addressed as “Dada”. We had the privilege of catching up with the Dada of Odisha cricket, Govinda Poddar. Beyond just similarities in nick names, this guy seemed to be everything that we associate Sourav Ganguly with. A leader who commands respect, takes a stance for what he believes in and comes back strong from failures. However, the most striking resemblance is that he is a very dedicated student of the game - Just like Ganguly, he has an immaculate attention to detail and is familiar with all records. He even remembers how many runs he has scored in all the trial matches he has played till date, the manner in which he got out in each of them, the technical flaws that led to his dismissals and the number of runs he needs to score next season to be in the reckoning, keeping the current season's highest scorer as a benchmark. Govinda Poddar is hell of a focused guy and a synonym of dedication.
𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭? 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲?
Well it started way back in 2004-05. We used to collect 5 rupees from each player and would purchase a tennis ball from Pandit Dukaan in Rourkela. When I was in class 8, I was curious to notice Chinmay Srichandan (a renowned actor now) practicing alone with a tennis ball in the DAV field nearby. He had marked the good length area with a chalk and was aiming to hit this target with a full run up. I played a few matches with him. Being impressed with my game, he suggested me to join a club. I thus started playing in Gymkhana.
One fine day, a friend of mine informed me about the district selection for the Kalahandi Cup. I didn't know that Rourkela had its own team. I assumed that since Rourkela is in Sundargarh district, I would have to play for the Sundargarh team. I turned up for the trails in Sundargarh. I met Montu Sir (Sushil Mishra) who suggested me to join a school camp. As part of my u15 district side, I had the opportunity of going to Cuttack. The first glance of Barabati stadium thrilled me beyond words. And a 100 on debut at the u15 level was the icing on the cake. So that was how I got introduced to playing professional cricket.
𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐒𝐢𝐫 (𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐣) 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞-𝐤𝐧𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬. 𝐀𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫?
I got introduced to Honey bhai through Sumit Da (Late Sumit Bose) and Montu Sir. In fact, it was Sumit Da who informed me about a dedicated district team for Rourkela. He asked Honey bhai to prepare me for the next level.
Honey bhai was always a call away. I could share all my problems open heartedly with him. He was always beside me through thick and thin. We used to play for free in Rourkela Steel Plant ground under his watchful eyes. However, post his demise, cricket in Rourkela became very commercialized. He was a visionary of the game and a man with a golden heart.
It was on recommendation of Honey bhai that Khirod bhai (Khirod Behera) took me into consideration for the U15 state selection.
𝐀 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝟏𝟓 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥. 𝐀 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥. 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐚𝐫?
In 2009, as part of the selection process for Buchi Babu tournament in Chennai, a trials match was arranged. The U22 team was playing a star studded Ranji trophy team consisting the likes of Debashish Mohanty, Shiv Sundar Das, Pravanjan Mullick, Basant Mohanty, Sukanta Khatua. I and Biplab were playing for the u22 side.
With such big names up for consideration for the final squad, my chances of getting selected seemed unlikely. But I was very determined to make a statement. I went in to bat at around 2 pm that day. While I was batting the selectors went in to decide the team. Once they were back, in a matter of 2 hours, I had scored a century. They initially couldn't believe someone scoring at that rate in a days match. I unfortunately couldn't make the cut in spite of scoring a century but with that innings I made sure that they won't take me for granted the next time. (smiles)
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟓 𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐢 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐮𝐦. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟔𝐭𝐡?
I could have hit 6 sixes that match. I would blame Biplab for that (laughs). On a serious note, he wanted us to stitch a partnership. After hitting a couple of sixes, he asked me to rotate the strike. May be if I had gone all guns blazing, I could have hit all 6 in that over. Biplab was making a comeback in that match. He scored a 100. I was very happy for him.
𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭-𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝?
In the 2011 season, I didn’t play the first 5 matches. When our team had a very poor start to the season, losing 4 out of the 5 matches and drawing 1, changes were made to the side. I made a comeback against Karnataka and scored 50s in both innings. I was elated with my comeback.
However, I always had in the back of my mind that the big scores weren’t coming. I was getting out too many times in the 40s. In fact, my first 100 came in 2010, the 2nd came in 2015!
A brief discussion with Virender Sehwag and guidance from Rashmi Ranjan Parida helped me overcome the challenge of getting a start but not converting them – Post their inputs, I approached the game differently. I limited the number of shots I was playing. As a result, the risks I took were mitigated. This helped me play for longer durations and eventually resulted in more runs and better conversion rates.
It would be unjust to miss out giving credit to Bassi bhai (Basant Mohanty) for the second century. I was on 42 when he came in to bat. When he was dismissed for 17, I was on 147*. There are very few people with the unique ability of making their partners score runs. Basant bhai is one of them. Natraj (Natraj Behera) bhai is another.
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐎𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞?
I have interacted with multiple players around the country. In places like Mumbai, Karnataka, Delhi outstanding talents get identified at a very young age. They start getting associated with the tag of playing for India much in advance of making their debut. The way they are groomed post that makes a lot of difference.
As far as we are concerned, mindset is a factor. Once players get settled in jobs, it somewhat limits their drive of achieving bigger things. I won't entirely blame them though. The nature of jobs is as such. If you slog for 8 hours in office you don't get ample time to dedicate to the game. I have observed this trend of downfall in performances for some, though not all.
Lastly lack of match practice doesn't allow us to carry ample confidence going into the first class matches that we play. Players elsewhere, however, play a lot of invitational tournaments as well as trials matches before playing first class. A guy with 8 hundreds in his bag will definitely be mentally at a different level than someone who has a few in his kitty.
Govinda Poddar Sourav Ganguly Official Biplab Samantray
