Made in Jamnagar: Mohit Ulva follows the Chauhan path

After claiming three wickets in the first Youth Test against Australia under-19, Mohit struck a half-century on Monday, sharing a big ninth-wicket partnership with Lakshya Raichandani. | Photo Credit: Shayan Acharya

Mohit Ulva remembers the running.

Twenty-four, sometimes 25 rounds. Then 25 sprints, push-ups and more drills. It was part of the routine at the Cricket Bungalow in Jamnagar, where he began his cricketing journey under Mahendrasinh Chauhan.

Chauhan has coached several cricketers at the academy, most notably Ravindra Jadeja. Mohit is another of his wards, now part of India’s under-19 set-up.

After claiming three wickets in the first Youth Test against Australia under-19, Mohit struck a half-century on Monday, sharing a big ninth-wicket partnership with Lakshya Raichandani, who went on to score a double century as India built a commanding lead at the Niranjan Shah Stadium.

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For Mohit, the story started much earlier, when his father saw something in him.

“My father was always interested in cricket,” he told Sportstar. “He couldn’t play in his time, unfortunately, but when I was young, he saw some qualities in me and thought I could play.”

His father, who works in the Railway Protection Force, asked him to join an academy. Mohit agreed, although there was another attraction.

“I actually agreed because I wanted to escape studying!” he said with a smile.

He had already been playing tennis-ball cricket in his village with his cousins.

“I enjoyed playing cricket there too. I personally liked the game, so I listened to my father and started going to an academy.”

That took him to Jamnagar, and to Chauhan.

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The lessons at the Cricket Bungalow were not only about cricket. Chauhan, who Jadeja fondly refers to as ‘MS’, was particular about fitness.

“In Jamnagar, I learnt that fitness is the most important thing as Mahendra Sir worked a lot on it,” Mohit said.

Chauhan has coached several cricketers at the academy, most notably Ravindra Jadeja. Mohit is another of his wards, now part of India’s under-19 set-up. | Photo Credit: Shayan Acharya

“He wouldn’t let the boys get away with anything. He would make us run, make us sprint and sometimes even scold us, but he would never let us off. The warm-up itself was 24 rounds…”

But Mohit did not resent it.

“I actually liked it, so I did it. I used to think, ‘My father has told me to do this, so I’ll do it.’ It was a very good experience with Mahendra Sir. He made me very fit.”

Mohit had started out as an off-spinner. Then Chauhan suggested a change.

“One day, Mahendra Sir told me, ‘Try fast bowling.’ He said I had a lean body and that I ran well, so I should try fast bowling…”

Mohit listened. “I started doing it and naturally developed into a fast bowler.”

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There was no specialised fast-bowling coach behind the transformation.

“I have never taken any personal coaching specifically for fast bowling,” he said. “Obviously, I have worked with the coaches at the BCCI CoE camps, at the under-16 and under-19 levels and everywhere else. But I have never had a personal fast-bowling coach,” he said, adding: “It has just been natural. I believe in my gut and just try to deliver.”

Until the under-16 level, Mohit says, there was no particular plan. “It was quite raw and rough. I would just bowl every day and think that the more I bowled, the better my bowling would become.”

A fan of Pat Cummins, Mohit played for Saurashtra as a fast-bowling all-rounder and gradually began to understand the demands of the game. “As I started going to more camps and understanding the game better, I began to understand what is important in cricket and, specifically, what is important in bowling,” the 18-year-old said.

Now there is more structure around him -- a dietician, strength and conditioning and a greater understanding of recovery. But Mohit believes a young cricketer’s success is more about internal tuning.

“You also need to understand your own body. Nobody else can understand your body as well as you can.”

“If my body doesn’t feel good, I stop doing something,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t push myself. I just focus on the things that actually benefit me,” he added.

When his father was transferred to Rajkot, Mohit moved with him, and began playing age-group cricket for Saurashtra. His development thereon was also shaped by senior cricketers. A couple of years ago, he spent a season in the Saurashtra Premier League with Jaydev Unadkat, although he is yet to meet the ‘pride of Jamnagar’, Ravindra Jadeja.

“With senior players, one important thing is that the good ones don’t stop you,” Mohit said. “They let you explore. They let you expose your ability. They tell you, ‘You have this ability, so try it.’”

Unadkat, in particular, helped him with a variation. Mohit had seen the left-arm pacer bowl a slower bouncer in the nets and tried it himself.

“I saw him bowling it in the nets, so I tried it,” he said. “Jaydev bhai saw it and said, ‘Never leave this. If you are bowling it well, keep bowling it.’”

His batting, too, is becoming an important part of his game. “It did not come naturally to me,” he said. “My father makes me practise with the bowling machine, does throwdowns with me and makes me do different drills. That’s how I improved my batting.”

He also learnt by watching others. On Monday, that work showed.

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With Lakshya at the other end, Mohit played his shots, rotated the strike and stayed with his captain as India built a huge first-innings total. He was unbeaten on a half-century by the end of the day.

For a boy who started cricket at the Cricket Bungalow, under a coach who made him run 25 rounds before he could think about bowling, it was another marker in his journey. Mohit knows there is still a long way to go. But he knows what has brought him this far.

“You need to understand your own game,” he said, adding with a smile: “Understand your character, believe in it and move forward.”