The Indian Street Premier League (ISPL) has been showcasing some fine cricketing talent from across India and in particular Mumbai too and Sumeet Dhekale from Chennai Singams is one among them.
The 36-year-old Dhekale, who is a Mumbaikar, has been in good nick in the ISPL Season 2 scoring 185 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 140.15 slamming 16 fours and nine sixes.
The Nalasopara lad is happy with his form but not pleased with the Singams' exit in the league stages of the tournament. He was retained by the Chennai Singams for Rs 10.10 lakh with the Right To Match (RTM) card.
"ISPL Season 2 has gone really well for me but the only disappointment has been that we have not been able to qualify for the knockout stages. I have worked very hard. In terms of performance, there has been a lot of growth as compared to last year," he added.
Dhekale's topscore was 46 in the present season and he had some good knocks to his credit as compared to the inaugural season of the ISPL.
"ISPL Season 1 was not that good as I scored only in two games," he said.
Dhekale has the experience of featuring in 2019 T20 Mumbai league with the likes of current India star Yashasvi Jaiswal and Prithvi Shaw among others.
"At that time, Prithvi Shaw was playing for India. Yashasvi was still playing for Mumbai. Both players were very professional and I got to learn by just watching them prepare for matches and how to approach a game situation."
Dhekale said he was very happy to see the progress made by Jaiswal into the India ranks.
"It's a very proud feeling for me that I have played with players like Jaiswal who are now representing India," he added.
Dhekale had first come into prominence in the Mumbai cricketing circles by slamming a 143 off just 68 balls in the Purushottam Shield.
"I was playing 'A' Division regularly and there was a bit of a batting collapse and from that situation to play that knock was very satisfying. Our owners were there and they congratulated and even others who were present there appreciated my performance. Cricketers praised me and then I was feeling even better," he added.
Playing for National CC in 'A' Division where former India cricketer Jatin Paranjape is the coach, Dhekale also has the feather of being captained by India star and current Mumbai skipper Ajinkya Rahane in the T20 Mumbai league.
The senior player felt fitness and mental strength held great importance in the ISPL and those were big learnings for him.
"As a tennis-ball cricketer, from the first season of the ISPL, one thing that I learnt which is very important is fitness. Another thing is that no matter how talented you maybe, if you are not mentally strong, you cannot survive and sustain here. Here there are several situations and to deal with that it is important to be fearless and resilient."
Dhekale stated he was focused on improving his fitness and the third season of ISPL was his main aim now.
"There are several tennis ball tournaments but I'm more focused on my fitness this year. I want to be supremely fit by the time ISPL Season 3 comes along. My main focus is now on ISPL 3," he added.
