Baroda left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt couldn't have asked for a better outing in his 100th first-class appearance. He celebrated his landmark game with a six-for against Bihar to script a 10-wicket win that gave Baroda a bonus-point win for the second match in a row.
Bhatt has been a workhorse for Baroda in a 17-year-long domestic career that has fetched him 390 wickets. At 36, Bhatt says he has added new variations to his bowling after becoming an IPL commentator earlier this year, and he continues to dream of wearing the India jersey.
"To be honest when I started my career I never thought I would play 100 matches," he tells Cricinfo after Baroda's win. "But when the 100th game came, I thought of making it memorable. I had planned I would take five wickets, I would take the Player-of-the-Match award and I'll make the team win. When all these things happened it felt like god had planned everything for me.
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"I'm 36 but I still believe I can make it to the Indian team. I'm fit, I bowl 30 overs in each Ranji innings and I'm ready to play matches non-stop. I'm not leaving anything in my preparation and I'm just waiting for that [India] jersey.
After all these years, Bhatt continues to add skills to his armoury. He came into the ongoing domestic season with eight months of preparation and it showed when he scalped nine wickets in the opening round against Goa and another eight against Bihar.
"I have worked very hard for this season," Bhatt says. "I want to perform in such a way that the selectors are forced to think about me. After all what's in my hands is how well I can bowl with the ball."
Bhatt's drive to get better also included something players usually don't do. When he got a chance to do commentary in IPL 2026 for JioStar, he used the opportunity to closely observe the techniques of a lot of players he had earlier played with.
"It was a good experience for me," Bhatt says. "I got the chance to understand the strengths and weaknesses of players' techniques. I observed how spinners increase the revolutions in their bowling and some use a higher release point to trouble the batters. I have tried to include some of these things in my bowling."
The dream Bhatt still pursues is something he believes he came close to fulfilling more than 10 years ago. He was first picked for India A in 2013 when he shared the dressing room with the likes of Mohammed Shami and Zaheer Khan and picked up a seven-for against West Indies A, and two more wickets in the second innings. The BCCI also included him in a select group of reserve bowlers for honing their skills at the NCA (now CoE).
"At that time I really thought the Test call-up was not far away" Bhatt says. "I used to be with the India side regularly and was performing well with the red ball. But the competition increased with allrounders like Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. I was a genuine bowler but I think the team was looking for someone who could bat too."
Bhatt first made his way to the India A side when he took 47 wickets in the 2010-11 season. He switched to Andhra after spending seven seasons with Baroda and shone for his new side immediately. He bagged 38 wickets in 2016-17 at 27.10 and another 27 the following season at 31.37. He soon returned to Baroda and took home another 41 wickets, this time at 22.12 in 2023-24, to haul his team into the knockouts.
"I have decided that I will kep working on my strengths and make them better," he says. "I try to learn something every season, you never know which door will open in which season. So I'm only going to keep performing and keep myself ready."
Bhatt believes keeping himself fit is one of the most important things. The T20I return of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is also 36, has also inspired Bhatt, who jokes that they share the same zodiac sign.
"I know there is a lot of competition [in the Indian team]. But why should I give up hope when I'm fit and I'm still taking wickets. I want to perform in such a way this season that it becomes hard to ignore me. The rest is upto the selectors. I'm going to keep myself ready."