Having celebrated his 21 st birthday just a couple of weeks ago, Harshad Khadiwale is the youngest captain in the 2009-10 Ranji Trophy. In spite of carrying the weight of the team on his slight shoulders, the Maharashtra opener says he feels no pressure. His innings of 114 runs against Bengal in the opening match of the season was a testament to his statement.

Khadiwale was born in Pune and first started playing cricket when he was six years old at the Maharana Pratap Cricket Club in Nehru Stadium. He then had short stints with The Club of Maharashtra and South City before finally settling with Cadence Cricket Club. He made his first-class debut against Hyderabad at Karad in November 2006. Since then he has played 18 matches and scored 1032 runs at an average of 34. The teams he has represented include India Red, India U-19s and Maharashtra.

On a pitch with uneven bounce and a lot of turn, Khadiwale adapted well to the conditions and stayed out in the middle for 216 minutes before falling to Ranadeb Bose. He later said his patient second-innings approach was key. “The wicket was acting funny, so I decided to leave the balls outside off-stump and hit the loose ones,” he said. At 305/7, Maharashtra have crawled their way back into the match, which after the first session seemed a lost cause. “Our batsmen applied themselves well. But we will want to bat for at least the first 15 overs on Friday to have a chance to bowl them out,” said Khadiwale.

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