EXCLUSIVE: Prerak Mankad talks about MSD, Kohli, Unadkat and a lot more
Thousands and lakhs of people play cricket in India, but only a few get to live their dreams. A mere percentile of cricketers become professionals in this country, and the allrounders who can bowl fast are as scarce as unicorns.
Prerak Mankad won VHT with Saurashtra in 2022
One such rare cricketer is Prerak Mankad. A lot won’t know much about him. Hailing from Sirohi, the allrounder has gotten recognition after being a budding talent for Saurashtra in their title-winning Vijay Hazare season. He was also a part of the winning team that banked the silver during the Ranji season of 2019-20 as well. However, Mankad is a lot more than that.
In a conversation with Bhawana Jarwal for OneCricket, the Saurashtra cricketer talks about his India dream, the fanboy moments around MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, his days with Punjab Kings in the IPL, how big of a factor Jaydev Unadkat has been in his career, and a lot more.
Here are the excerpts from the interview.
First of all, many congratulations on winning the Vijay Hazare Trophy with Saurashtra. You’ve contributed a lot to this victory. Could you tell us something about your team and captain, Jaydev Unadkat?
Thank you so much. It’s a good feeling to win the Vijay Hazare trophy. We all are very happy for Jaydev Unadkat, he deserves the most to get this call-up. He has been working really hard with his bowling for the past couple of years. He took almost 70 wickets in a season, 67 to be precise, in the 2019-2020 Ranji trophy season. I personally feel that he should play for India. He should not come in as an injury or replacement cover, but he actually deserves to be there.
How crucial players like Jaydev Unadkat, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sheldon Jackson, etc. have been in your initial career? Any stories there?
Jaydev Unadkat (left corner), Arpit Vasavada (right corner)
Yes, I came to the Saurashtra team after performing in the Under-23 setup. All of the senior players have helped me a lot with their experience in my initial days, both on and off the ground. When you come to this level in the domestic circuit, the experience of senior players is really important. I’m very grateful that I get to share the dressing room with these stalwarts of Indian Cricket.
Your List-A and T20 numbers have been quite impressive, but you have flourished extremely well in the last 2-3 seasons. How would you rate your progress in the last couple of years?
Yes, as you said, I’ve been doing quite well in from the last 2-3 seasons. Eventually, we completed the white ball season on a high note, that’s more important for my team and for me. I did well in the last Vijay Hazare as well, but we couldn’t win the tournament last year, but now we are much happier as we are the champions.
We all know that a cricketer craves perfection, so according to Prerak Mankad, what else can be done to level up your game?
For the last 2 seasons, I’ve been doing well, but I want to be more consistent in all the departments, be it bowling, batting or fielding. I would try to be more focused and consistent in every game I get to play for my team. So, yeah, I crave consistency.
This reminds me of your IPL debut, it was against Sunrisers last year. In that game, you finished off the match for Punjab by scoring a boundary against Umran Malik. How was that feeling doing that against the likes of Umran?
Mankad alongside Englishman Liam Livingstone in IPL 2022
Obviously, it was a great feeling to play an IPL game, thanks to Punjab Kings for giving me that opportunity. Yes, I feel so lucky that I played that game and scored the boundary on the first ball, it was like the icing on the cake.
Talking about Punjab Kings, last season you were with them. What was the team environment like there?
The environment there was pretty good. It was my first IPL season, and all the players and support staff were extremely helpful and nice to me. Communication there was easy with everyone there, and even with the overseas players. You could go to any player or staff member and talk about your game and team, and they would help you with their experience.
So, who was your best bud there in Punjab?
Umm.. I had a great time with Arshdeep Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Harpreet Singh and Atharva Ankolekar. We were there in the bio-bubble for two months, and we all had a pretty good time together. We used to have a lot of fun. I made some good memories there.
I was checking your social media, and I saw that Virat Kohli is your inspiration, a great inspiration to have for all of us. You’re an MS Dhoni admirer as well. Do you have anything to share regarding them?
I’ve not got any chance to play with Virat Kohli, but I’ve watched him win so many games for India. In fact, watching Mahi play has been a delight to me. Actually, you know, I played a game against Mahi Bhai in Vijay Hazare (back in 2016). It was a low-scoring game but a memory to cherish forever. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to bowl against him then, but it was some memory.
You are very much famous for your explosive batting in the middle order, plus you can bowl at a medium pace as well. And we have been lacking such players in the India cricket team who can be a cover for Hardik Pandya. Then, we have seen players like Vijay Shankar, Venkatesh Iyer, and Shivam Dube get fast-tracked after one IPL season. Do you see the same happening to you?
I would love to see myself get fast-tracked like that (chuckles). But you need to understand that fairytales don’t come true daily. For me, I get to concentrate more on the process. I will focus on myself. Wherever I’ll get a chance - I’ll just perform, be it domestic cricket or the IPL. And like you said, if you perform well in the IPL, you surely get fast-tracked. Wherever I get to play, I’ll try to cash in on the chances and perform for the team.
You didn’t bowl much in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, as the stats say. Like you just bowled 11 overs in seven matches. So would you focus more on your bowling before this IPL season, as fast-bowling allrounders are very rare in our circuit?
I won’t say that I bowled less. I did bowl in the T20s, I bowled whenever my team needed me to have a bowl. I bowled some crucial overs against Kerela (2/26 in 3 overs). And I bowled really well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Yes, I did bowl less in the SMAT, but I bowled whenever it was required for my team and bowled some crucial overs as well. Although I will work on bowling before the big IPL.
Who is your all-time favourite cricketer, and why?
A still of Mankad with MS Dhoni from 2016
My favourite cricketer has to be Mahi Bhai (Mahendra Singh Dhoni), for the way he started his career, and the way he played throughout his career. He always thought about the team first, and that is why he led India to three titles as well. He is really an inspiration to me and all the budding cricketers around the country.
And who is your all-time favourite captain?
I would like to say JD Bhai (Jaydev Unadkat) because I have played the most under his captaincy. Just for the way he leads the side, the way he understands his players and how well he reads the game - he has to be. I really like to play under him.
Lastly, how do you manage failures and pressure situations? From the outside, it looks so easy, but only a player knows how much he/she has to deal with. Do you want something on that?
I just try to be in the present. I don’t look too much into the past or try to imagine what will happen in the future, I am just more focused on the present. Like it is said in cricket, I try to play one ball at a time. That works for me. It’s very easy to say from the outside, but it is immensely hard to deal with tough situations.
What are your expectations from the IPL auction that is around the corner?
A: My expectations? Haha! I just want to be on the team list, I just want to be bought. As you know, I have been performing well for the last 3-4 seasons. So, I wish that I get picked in the auction and get an opportunity to play at that level.
Read More: Jaydev Unadkat joins India squad for the Test series against Bangladesh