By some approximations, over 5 million people in India play cricket in one form or another. The Board of Control for Cricket India has over 6,000 players registered with it at the highest professional level. Yet, in the nation’s 90-year Test history, only 303 players have been able to wear the all-whites with the Indian emblem stitched on their caps.

“As a cricketer, this is what you want to do, right? I've always idolized Sachin Tendulkar sir because of what he has done for cricket for more than 20 years. Sachin started playing international cricket when he was 15 and if he can do that at the international level, we can at least do it for the state, right? All these people serve as a great motivation, especially when you are young. Also, I realized early that in professional cricket if you don't perform consistently, you can't sustain on the circuit.”

The encounter almost seemed to foreshadow what the future held for Ankit – amidst the celebrations of others, the youngster was battling challenges in a world of his own; but 13 years into his career, the Maharashtrian carries no regrets.

“Playing at a young age made me so mature. I had to keep performing just to stick around and keep representing Maharashtra. I think what I had and what I lived in the last 15 years was way better than a chilled-out life,” Bawne reflected.

Ankit was not just an ordinary young cricketer though. He was exceptionally gifted and always among the leading performers in his age group. The batter was thrust into captaincy ever since his early days and has since gone on to lead Maharashtra across formats. To understand the respect that Ankit garners in Indian cricket, the batter was named captain of an India 'A' side that included future India team skippers Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul. The 29-year-old stated he revels in the challenge that captaincy brings, being a team player through and through.

“The experience I have also plays an important role in cricket. If you see the better captains or the experienced players, because they have seen so much in the game, they can run the game better,” Bawne further affirmed.

It was at India A that Ankit got the opportunity to be under the tutelage of then-head coach Rahul Dravid. The duo also spent some time together at the Delhi Daredevils, where the batter played his first and only IPL game in 2017. The legendary batter’s advice continues to play an impact on the budding cricketer’s career, over a year since the two parted ways as Dravid moved on to coach the senior Indian squad.

“I asked Rahul sir, what do I have to do to play for the Indian team? He simply said that you have to be consistent and keep performing without taking your foot off the pedal. You have to keep pressing it and you have to keep accelerating. His words really meant a lot and even though it is a small message, it really helped me. Now it's been 2-3 years since I have been stepping on the pedal. I'm pressing it and pushing it every now and then.”

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“He also helped with a couple of technical changes, like how to bat on the pitches of New Zealand which were different and how to prepare to play in those conditions. In India, you won't find many bouncy tracks plus the weather is different. But again, I would say the small mental things like how to build your innings matter more. He was a wall for the Indian team for more than a decade in Test Cricket. So there are a lot of things I've learned from him which have really helped me in first-class cricket, how to accelerate the innings in the initial phase, how to deal with the pressure when you are a captain, and how to take the team forward. These things go and stick in your mind forever because it's Rahul Dravid; you never forget those things.”

Such expert guidance is no longer restricted to India A, however. Bawne has seen the Indian domestic scene evolve over the last 13 years into a more open, welcoming space with a greater culture of knowledge sharing than ever before.

Despite making his debut up the order, Ankit now plies his trade largely at number five in first-class cricket and has built a reputation for rescuing his team from tough situations. The batter has grown up with a conventionally solid technique and acute reading of the game, with his ability to anchor along an innings among the best on the Indian domestic circuit. However, despite seemingly being made to bat in the top order, Bawne is more than happy to serve his team’s requirements without any selfish motives.

"I can't see anyone else who has a front-foot stride as big as that against fast bowlers. Middles everything, bat sounds very sweet, and he gives us solidity, real solidity."

Surendra Bhave, former Maharashtra Head Coach

“As for first-class cricket, we had good openers for a number of years for Maharashtra so I had to bat in the middle because they needed someone who plays with good technique and good temperament; someone, who can just take the team through. Fortunately, I have kept performing at the same positions, numbers four and five, and thus haven't even thought about changing,” he further asserted his point.

Over the years, Bawne has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket. Having now settled into his middle-order role, the right-hander enjoyed a great Ranji campaign in 2021/22, piling on 270 runs in just three games at an average of 67.40, including notching up his 20th career first-class century. However, his batting position in one-days remains dynamic, but the constant change has hardly deterred Bawne’s numbers.

“In one-day cricket, it is totally the team's decision where they want to place a batsman. This year because Ruturaj was there and Rahul was there, I had to bat in the middle order. I have batted at number three in the past and scored centuries there also, but you have to go as per the team’s requirement. Nothing is bigger than team success. So I had to bat number five and I didn't even think about scoring too many runs because my only goal was to perform and help my team win. When your thinking is so clear then personal milestones stop mattering, they just follow on their own. I think much like the way Virat Kohli says he just goes and performs to try to make sure that his team ends up on the winning side and then the records just follow,” Ankit expressed.

“But when I saw the top 10 scorers in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, I was very much proud of myself that even though I batted fewer overs than the others and that too in crunch situations in the middle, I still managed to get around 600 runs which was a very good thing for me as a middle-order batsman,” he added. 

“The game has evolved a lot if you see what we used to play in 2000, 2010 and now in 2022, and I think I have evolved too with the game. Initially, when I started there was no IPL, there was not much white-ball cricket. People used to play the traditional way, but I think with time I have evolved my game very well. Even if you see this year, I batted with a strike rate of over 100 and scored very quick runs. Whenever my team needed me to, I shifted gears,” Ankit observed.

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“This evolution is what helped me stay in this game for a longer time. I also started pretty early, not many associations give chances to their players when they're 15 years old, you don't see that nowadays. Getting a chance at 15 just helped me to mature quickly. So by the time when I was 19 and 20, I was pretty stable but again, you have to work hard for it. I know I have worked very hard for it. I have had to work really hard in the gym. I've worked hard on my running. I've worked on my technique, and I've gone to Chennai to play games and get that game time before the Ranji. So I know I've done a lot of hard work but you can’t just keep playing with that one mindset. Every year, you have to bring different things to your game whenever you go and play first-class cricket. You should look different. You should look better than the last year. “

The relentless nature of Ankit’s efforts and his dedication to the team are best highlighted by the way he prepared for the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy. As glamorous a reputation as cricket has of being laden with money, few are able to recognize the immense level of hard work that goes on behind the scenes.

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Such determination has meant that in the past Ankit has been ever-so-close to breaking through into the Indian team on multiple occasions only to end up disappointed. Be it a chance to prove his mettle at the Under-19 World Cup in 2012 as India’s captain, until it was stripped away from him at the last moment due to a clerical error by his passport agent, or his various stints with India ‘A’. The batter had shot into the spotlight in 2017 when he had battled through a barrage of pace from the likes of Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry in the unofficial Test series against New Zealand A, eventually emerging with a match-winning 162 in the second game. Yet, a few low scores against the England Lions saw the door being shut on him once again. Ever since, Ankit has kept on knocking with his excellent displays across formats, but to no avail.

Nevertheless, representing India is just another challenge for Ankit at the end of the day, and boy does he know how to overcome them.

“My only job is to go there and perform as a professional cricketer whenever given an opportunity, and I have been doing that for more than a decade. I strongly feel that my time will come – all those performances, all that hard work, it won't go unrecognized and things will all come together sooner or later. It will come.”