"TNPL by itself has thrown 3 to 4 names in the IPL auction" - Salem Spartans' Kaushik Gandhi opens up ahead of the 7th edition

That Kaushik Gandhi has been a stalwart in Tamil Nadu cricketing circles for the last few years needs no reiteration. A dogged opening batter with a penchant for the long grind, the right-hander has been incredibly reliable at the top of the order in setting his team up for substantial, fruitful essays.

Today, though, his focus rests elsewhere. Having retired from recognized competitive domestic cricket last December, Kaushik is plying his trade as an umpire, having attended his examinations and undergone extensive preparation for the same. Many would agree that it's a thankless job to be officiating on the park and Kaushik's patient approach to the game, which has become archetypal of him over time, is sure to help him in this new endeavor.

That isn't to say that he's done as a player altogether. Having led the Chepauk Super Gillies to back-to-back titles in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), he will mark his return to the league as part of the Salem Spartans this season.

He won't have the C of captaincy against his name, but a fresh and rejuvenated Kaushik is gearing up for another season of what is arguably the best state-run T20 league in the country at present. And funnily enough, the Spartans' curtain-raiser will be against his former team, the Super Gillies themselves.

In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, Kaushik dived into his expectations ahead of the new season and his fresh frame of mind ahead of picking up the bat again. He also spoke about the TNPL being a stepping stone and one of the top T20 leagues in the country, as well as the highly talked-about impact player substitution which will make its foray into the league this year.

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Excerpts from Kaushik Gandhi's exclusive chat with Sportskeeda

Q. It's a new season of the TNPL and a new beginning with the Salem Spartans. How excited are you after a successful run with the Chepauk Super Gillies?

Kaushik Gandhi: I have mixed emotions to be honest. One is, I’m back to my old franchise. It was not called Salem Spartans but it was called Tuti Patriots. I started there so I have very fond memories from the first three years. So I’m happy to be back with the same team again. But after a very good run with CSG, I’m going to miss them. That’s the only way to put it. I’m not going to say they should have picked me or missed a trick and all that because the auction dynamics work differently for different teams. I’m going to miss them for sure but I’m looking forward to this stint with my previous team.

Q. What do you think is the biggest challenge for you personally heading into the campaign? And having led CSG to the title, how eagerly are you looking forward to impart that experience with captain Abhishek Tanwar and the youngsters?

Kaushik Gandhi: I’m just going to enjoy and try to contribute as much as I can to the team’s cause. We do have a solid team of youngsters. I managed to attend a five-day camp in Salem and I was actually kind of surprised with the amount of talent we have. They are not big names when it comes to TNPL but the talent that I saw in that camp was phenomenal. I’m sure we are going to surprise a few teams with the kind of skillset that we possess. Yes, looking forward to how I can contribute and help the team in whatever way I can and also helping the youngsters go about their way. Whatever experience I can share which is going to be for the betterment of the team I’m sure I’m going to do that.

Q. How has your preparation been in the off-season? Is there anything in particular that you have focused on?

Kaushik Gandhi: I’ve been doing a lot of fitness. I’ve been working on my fitness a lot and that has definitely helped keep me in shape. I’ve not had much cricket practice as such. The maximum number of days - I can actually count it with my fingers - I’ve had only 8-9 sessions of batting since December. But I’m in a good mental space because I’ve been occupied with preparing for the umpiring course all throughout. And whenever I go in to bat, I can find that I’m in a very free and relaxed kind of mental space. That is something that every player professionally strives to work at and even I’ve done it. I’ve always searched for this mental framework when I’ve played and I’ve struggled to get it a lot of times. Now maybe because of the retirement or the stage I am in my career, I don’t know if it’s coming very naturally. I’m loving the state of mindset that I have right now and I’m just trying to take this into the game and enjoy my cricket in this tournament.

Q. Having linked up with the Spartans squad, what is the mood in the camp like? Is there any particular player you’d say everyone must keep an eye out for?

Kaushik Gandhi: I’m not going to name anyone now because I strongly believe in this jinx and all that (laughs). I’m not going to name someone before the tournament but you might want to watch out for our team, that’s the only thing I can say, because we’ve got a couple of guys who can take the seniors by surprise and that’s what happened to me. I’m pretty sure that they’re going to give some impactful performances.

Q. The amount of talent coming through the ranks via the TNPL reflects in the state's white-ball success in recent years. Would you say this is arguably the best domestic T20 league in the country at the moment?

Kaushik Gandhi: I can definitely vouch for TNPL as an individual tournament but I don’t know how the standards are in other domestic leagues around the country. So I don’t want to compare and say TNPL is better or lagging or anything like that. But definitely, what the association has done for us is phenomenal. We saw with the white-ball results since the inception of TNPL. I was luckily a part of two trophy-winning sides - the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Deodhar Trophy. I could see how the guys coped up with the pressure that domestic games threw at us. I am sure because personally TNPL was what helped me handle that pressure - not just the pressure of performance but the pressure of playing in big matches, the pressure of playing in live games, the pressure of people watching you on screens. And there are a lot of players who have benefited like me.

We are in the 7th year of TNPL - almost each year, TNPL by itself has thrown 3 to 4 names in the IPL auction. So I’m pretty sure that this tournament is going to go from strength to strength. And in the coming years I’m very confident that a lot of other domestic states are going to copy this layout and have their own tournaments. I can already see Maharashtra come up with their T20 League, there’s already KPL that’s happening (Maharaja Trophy). I’m pretty sure that in 10 years’ time every state is going to have their own domestic league because that is the stepping stone for the IPL and that is where IPL scouts are going to hunt for their players.

Q. The TNPL season this year will see the introduction of the impact player rule. What do you make of it having also seen it come into play in the IPL?

Kaushik Gandhi: In the IPL I think the rule really helped all the sides because we saw all the average scores go up by 20 runs. I’m not going to put it down to just the impact player rule because definitely the skills of the batters in a year’s time was obviously going to go up. Every player is upping their skills and adding new techniques. If he’s a mystery spinner he’s going to add a new ball, if he’s a batter he’s going to add a new shot to his armory. So definitely the runs are going to go up. I won’t be shocked if we consistently see 250-260 scores in the years to come in the T20 game.

But I’m sure the impact player gives one more player an opportunity to showcase his talent whether with his bowling or batting. And that obviously adds to the amount of players who are going to have an opportunity to showcase their talent to play higher. From TNPL they might go on to play IPL, from IPL they might go on to play for India. There were 10 x 11 players, it has now become 10 x 12 players. 110 has become 120 now, so 10 players have already got extra opportunities because of the rule being introduced. And I’m sure TNPL is also going to have 8 players (one from each team) getting more opportunities than before so I don’t see any minuses in it.

Q. But do you think all-rounders will be endangered in T20 cricket if the impact player rule becomes mainstream?

Kaushik Gandhi: I don’t think so because if you saw before, every all-rounder who was not up to the mark was already found wanting, be it the IPL or TNPL. Even now if your skillset is not up to the mark you’re going to be found wanting. It’s not like just because the impact player rule is going to be introduced you’re going to perform lesser or perform more if it was not there. So I don’t see any all-rounder being impacted by this rule. If a player is good enough to perform with the bat and with the ball, irrespective of any rule - whether it’s impact player, super sub or whatever - he will find a way to perform.

Say if I’m captaining a team and the impact player rule is there, if you’re not good enough to perform for me even without the impact player I’m not going to give you the over. I’m going to find out five bowlers without you. If you’re good enough to bowl I’m going to use you. The same case applies here. If you’re a good enough all-rounder, especially in a tournament like TNPL where there are very limited good all-rounders, I think they’re still going to excel. Maybe in the IPL to an extent I would agree that the use of the all-rounder was diminishing because of the rule being introduced. But in the TNPL I don’t see that happening.

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With a rejuvenated mindset and a new beginning with the Spartans, Kaushik is clearly looking forward to another successful run in the TNPL. Plenty of reasons to keep an eye out on the team and the tournament, right?