Maharashtra's marathon man Ankit Bawne is entering his 13th Ranji Trophy season after having made his debut as a 15-year-old against Karnataka in Ratnagiri back in December 2007. Eighteen years on, he still relishes the domestic grind and is motivated to perform.
Being the second-highest run-getter among active Ranji players, behind Jammu & Kashmir professional Paras Dogra (9505), with 7244 runs, and the highest run-getter overall in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy with 4010 runs is a testament to the 32-year-old's durability and consistency.
"I'm the only child for my parents and I've been staying away from home since I was 14," Bawne told ESPNcricinfo in the lead-up to the new domestic season. "It has been a great journey, but still a long way to go and I believe there's still a lot of runs left in me.
"I feel the grind is important no matter what level of cricket you play. Some play for India, some play for the state and maybe some players will stay at the league level and they won't get higher honours. But I feel that attitude and discipline should always be there. I want people to remember me as a hard-working person and not somebody who has scored 10,000 runs or the all-time top-scorer in Vijay Hazare and all. It's okay if they [selectors] drop me because I'm not scoring enough runs, but nobody should drop me because I'm not fit and just pushing my career."
Bawne was able to translate his domestic success to the India A level in red-ball cricket - he scored 663 runs in 19 innings at an average of just over 55 - but an opportunity at the next level didn't come to pass. It has been more than five years since he last represented India A - the team management has moved on to a new pool of emerging players post Covid-19 - but that hasn't deterred him from toiling away in domestic cricket.
"I just want to control the controllables. Selection is not in my hands," Bawne said. "I have got some centuries against good sides and captained India A. Suddenly, I was not part of India A, but I'm a player who doesn't question the selection committee and whatever is written for me, I'll do that. See, some umpiring decisions are not in your hands. Like that, the weather is also not in your hands (laughs)."
After managing only two outright wins in seven matches in the previous Ranji season, Maharashtra have revamped their team, hiring two new professionals in Prithvi Shaw and Jalaj Saxena. They have also brought in Shaun Williams, the former Victoria batter and Bangladesh coach, as their director of cricket.
While Saxena was a late signing, Shaw has already eased his way into the Maharashtra set-up with a century on debut in the pre-season Buchi Babu tournament in Chennai. Shaw even got a taste of Maharashtra captaincy in the KSCA's K Thimmappiah Memorial Trophy. Bawne, who will captain Maharashtra in the upcoming Ranji Trophy, believes that the change in personnel will bring about a change in fortunes.
"We could not achieve our goals in red-ball cricket, but we've been consistently doing well in white-ball cricket," Bawne said. "It's also important to mix and match the youngsters with experienced players. Prithvi has come in - he's someone who has had success in Ranji Trophy and List A and has also played for India. He's only 25 and can serve Maharashtra for a long time. Mumbai to Pune is not a big change for him. Whenever he wants to go to Mumbai, it's just a three-hour drive and he can be with his family. Along with Prithvi, we have [Rajneesh] Gurbani also and we're doing whatever is needed to make this the best red-ball team.
"We were lacking a bit in the opening, but Prithvi is here now. Apart from Gurbani, Mukesh [Choudhary] is there and Ramakrishna Ghosh, who is an exciting allrounder; he's part of CSK. Vicky Ostwal is making the step-up from Under-23 cricket. Arshin [Kulkarni] and Sachin [Dhas] are also very talented. So I feel we have a great unit this year. Our coaches Harshad Khadiwale and Samad Fallah are also hungry to do well and win the Ranji Trophy."
Bawne also has a burning desire to win the Ranji title, something that has eluded him and his team for years. Maharashtra last won it way back in 1940-41. In 2013-14, Bawne came close to ending the trophy drought, but wound up losing the final to Karnataka in Hyderabad. Bawne had made twin half-centuries in that final, but he lamented his inability to convert his first-innings 89 into a big hundred.
"The pre-season prep has been good and our president has also said Maharashtra is looking at winning the Ranji Trophy," Bawne said. "I have achieved a lot in domestic cricket but have never won the Ranji Trophy. I remember that 90 [89] in that final against Karnataka; if I had scored 150, things might have been different. A Ranji title is something I can cherish all my life. So the goal is to put the body on the line and win it for Maharashtra."
Bawne has tuned up for the new domestic season by participating in Chennai's first-division league in sapping heat. It has been his pre-season prep for more than a decade. He is happy to do the same "boring" routines and put himself through the domestic grind once again.
"As a domestic cricketer, you have to live a boring life," Bawne said. "You have to wake up early. You have to look after your meals. You have to work out twice a day. So when you do that for 365 days, you will get used to this and this has been my life for the past 17 years. I eat the same food, I sleep at the same time and I play the same Chennai league before going back to Maharashtra. I'll be performing no matter what level I play because my routine is set and I'm well-prepared. Once you cross 29-30, you need to look after the body a bit more. I'm ready for it [another domestic season]."