JOIN USTireless Joshi scales new peak
Three balls later, Sajjin Sureshnath spooned Joshi into the hands of KB Pawan, and the left-arm spinner walked into a zone of his own, becoming the highest wicket-taker for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy. Into his 19th year for Karnataka, Joshi now has 438 wickets, one more than BS Chandrasekhar, from 105 matches.
It is a tribute to his longevity, unwavering determination to go on and unyielding spirit to compete with much younger lads, often coming out as winner by a mile. “It is a good feeling. But honestly, I have not played for records and that will come along when you play long and continuously. My focus has always been on performing for country or State and to be fit and keep performing,” Joshi said after achieving the milestone on the fourth day of the Ranji Trophy match against Maharashtra at the Pune Club grounds.
So has the thought of putting the hectic playing days behind occurred to him? “As long as I am fit and performing I want to go on. My substitute should perform better than me, and earn his place, isn’t it?” he asked. Uthappa later acknowledged the role of Joshi in the team set up.
“Sunil has been fantastic over the years for Karnataka. His determination to stay focused on job at hand is a lesson for every youngster in our dressing room, and doing that for 19 years is a remarkable feat,” Uthappa said.
Another man sitting in the Karnataka dressing room too wore a satisfactory smile -- Raghuram Bhat, Joshi’s one time colleague and now a State selector.
“Joshi is still the number one left-arm spinner in India. Even after all these years, he wants to learn and improve.
“He still comes and asks me about certain things, and that has been his hallmark,” Bhat said.