Rahul Sanghvi: Eight interesting facts about the Indian left-arm orthodox spinner

Rahul Laxman Sanghvi is an Indian cricketer, an effective orthodox left-arm spinner.

Rahul Laxman Sanghvi, born September 3, 1974, is an Indian cricketer, an effective orthodox left-arm spinner. Sanghvi was well-known for his guile and ability to penetrate. On the auspicious occasion of his 41st birthday, Suraj Choudhari digs deep and lists down nine interesting facts about Sanghvi.

1.  Skilful bowler

Sanghvi was a proficient spinner and possessed a rare art of effective orthodox spin bowling; he had all the requisite ingredients of flight, drift, turn and was dead right with his accuracy.

2.  Nurtured under Legend

Sanghvi was one of the lucky bowlers who groomed under the watchful eyes of Indian legendary spinner Bishan Singh Bedi.

3.  World Record

Sanghvi stunned the cricket cognoscenti with his enticing spell of 8 for 15 in a List A match against Himachal Pradesh while playing for Delhi in 1997-98 season. His performance till date remains the best by any bowler in such format.

4.  Contained Zimbabwe in a close encounter

Sanghvi’s finest performance in ODI cricket came against Zimbabwe in the third match of the triangular series in 1998. His economical spell of 3 for 29 in eight over’s helped India successfully defend a target of 275. This also turned out to be his best bowling figures in ODI cricket.

5.  Just ten ODIs

Despite possessing immense talent Sanghvi represented India in just 10 ODIs. He made his debut against Pakistan at Dhaka in January 1998. He played his ultimate ODI in the same calendar year against Zimbabwe at Harare.

6.  Domestic performance led to the Test side

After playing handful of ODIs, Sanghvi drilled hard in the domestic matches for Delhi and North Zone. His hard work paid off as he sculpted a spot in the national Test side and donned the whites against Australia in 2001.

7.  One Test

Sanghvi played just a single Test for India against Australia in 2001, where he picked couple of wickets. He was axed from the Test side after Australia demolished India by ten wickets in March 2001.

8.  Mumbai Indians team manager

At present, Sanghvi renders his services as a manager to Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

(Suraj Choudhari, an avid cricket follower who plays the sport at club level, is a staffer with Criclife)