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Tarang Gohel is the last man out of the ice bath on Thursday. He has struck a fifty against Zalawad Strikers on a searing afternoon earlier in the day, so a few additional minutes of recovery are warranted.
He had also stood in as the captain in Jaydev Unadkat’s absence and ensured Anmol Kings Halar stayed atop the points table in the Saurashtra Pro T20 League.
“Jaydev Unadkat is my role model in the way he leads and builds a player. Till date, JD bhai has not made me feel like I’m a junior, or that he’s a senior. Everyone feels equal in the team,” he says.
However, Gohel’s job is far from over. It goes beyond Saurashtra’s Twenty20 league.
“These games are a privilege. There’s always a chance that a scout from an Indian Premier League (IPL) team is watching,” he says on his way to the car that is waiting to take him home.
For a batter boasting a strike rate of 182 from 19 T20 games, it is natural to expect the scouts’ attention. But Gohel’s pursuit of making a name for himself and eventually breaking into the IPL has lasted longer than he expected.
“I have given IPL trials with three teams now: Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, and Punjab Kings. The most recent was last season (2024),” he says.
Chances in the IPL have been scarce for Saurashtra players. Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya were the only ones from the region in IPL 2025. The latter was an injury replacement for Kolkata Knight Riders’ Umran Malik. Harvik Desai and Prerak Mankad have been picked by teams earlier but got limited opportunities before eventually not finding any takers.
“What the scouts think and what the IPL teams want is up to them. Saurashtra has some pretty good T20 batters, who should hopefully get a chance in the IPL soon enough,” he says.
Through the eight games in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last season, Gohel played at a strike rate of 198. Only six batters managed a better strike rate; four of them played in the IPL—Suryansh Shedge, Abhishek Sharma, Jitesh Sharma, and Urvil Patel. However, Gohel’s boom-or-bust approach damaged his average, which stood at close to 14. He tallied 114 runs and was nabbed on a duck on two occasions.
But Gohel strives to stick to his methods, and the motivation to do so came during a dead rubber against Mumbai in Saurashtra’s last league game during the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
“We were playing Mumbai in Ahmedabad last season. In the first three overs, we had scored 45 runs, out of which I had some 40-odd. After the match, Suryakumar Yadav came to me and said, ‘Do not change your batting style. Everyone will notice you; just keep finding ways to polish your game, and hopefully we will see you at the next level.’”
Gohel ended up with 44 off 21 balls. Saurashtra posted 289 and lost, its fourth loss in the seven-game league stage, courtesy of Ayush Mhatre’s 148 runs. But the day is etched in the 25-year-old’s memory for reasons beyond that loss.
“Every player has their way of performing. The way to start can differ. Some players want to go for the strokes first; they want to attack. Others may prefer taking a few deliveries up front. There should be room for both,” Gohel says.
Gohel aspires to break in, but on his terms, and his time in the Saurashtra Pro T20 League makes it evident that he’s not compromising on his instincts. In his four innings, he has scored 10 off 6, 28 off 13, a three-ball duck, and 52 off 34.
For now, Gohel awaits the start of the domestic season—to go through the grind once again and convince himself he belongs with the best.
“Abhi dekhte hain hopefully Milenge Phirya Surya Bhau Se (I will hopefully get to meet Suryakumar Yadav again during the upcoming domestic season),” he says.
