Athletics: Tennis-ball cricketer turned javelin thrower Sachin Yadav knocks on the doors of big league with 82.69m

Till five years ago Sachin Yadav divided his time between playing tennis-ball cricket in Khekada, Baghpat, and attending coaching classes hoping to clear exams for a government job. A fast bowler and floater in the batting order, Sachin was no great shakes.

“Cricket was just for ‘timepass’ on Sundays. I had no ambition to play at a higher level,” Sachin said.

But Sandeep Yadav, a local javelin coach, with a knee eye for talent, saw a different future for Sachin. Sandeep happened to watch a tennis-ball cricket match that featured him. The real calling of the six-foot and four-inch tall village cricketer with great arm speed was javelin, Sandeep was certain.

In a few weeks’ time Sachin had traded the tennis ball for a bamboo javelin. And earlier this week, Sachin improved his personal best to 82.69 metres to finish first at the Indian Grand Prix-3 in Bengaluru. The 24-year-old is now seventh on the all-time India list for men’s javelin throw and only one of 10 men from the country to throw over 82 metres.

From being a local tennis-ball cricketer at 19 with no future in the sport, he is now rubbing shoulders with the most promising javelin throwers in the country.

There was a downpour in Bengaluru just before the men’s javelin throw. Asian Games silver medalist Kishore Kumar Jena pulled out but in the fray was the experienced Rohit Yadav, another member of India’s 80-metre club. Rohit’s best throw was 75.52 metres, while Sachin’s top 2 throws were 80.03 metres and 82.69.

Photo via World Athletics stat zone

“At the start of the competition, I didn’t think I would cross 80 metres. It had rained for about 10 minutes before the competition and the wind was blowing against the direction of the throws. The runway was wet. I could not drive power from my legs because of the conditions. But I went all out. When I threw a distance of 80.03 metres (2nd round) then I felt I could throw more,” Sachin said.

He is not getting carried away and has his feet firmly on the ground because the bar has been set very high by Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic and World champion.

“I am just thankful to God for where I am today. Sandeep sir happened to be watching the cricket match I was playing in. After the game he advised me to try javelin because he felt I had the potential. I had no link to javelin, I had not even heard of Neeraj (Chopra) bhai saab. Sandeep sir told me there is a boy who is winning medals for India and that javelin was the right sport for me. He said I had flexibility and elasticity, like Neeraj. But I wasn’t too keen on a new sport. I was focussed on getting a job,” Sachin recalled.

Only after another brainwashing session could Sandeep convince Sachin.

His first throw with a bamboo javelin in a private school ground in Khekada where Sandeep trained a handful of javelin aspirants. “It was measured at 57 metres and Sandeep sir told me it was a great start,” Sachin said. For the next two years, Sachin trained at the school ground. When Sandeep, who works with the UP police was away on duty, the coaching sessions would be via videos.

Keen that Sachin moves away from Khekada and to a better training facility, Sandeep got in touch with Naval Singh, the coach of Tokyo paralympic gold medalist Sumit Antil. Naval trains athletes at the JLN Stadium in Delhi, and Sachin moved to the capital.

Naval said that Sachin is still raw and needs at least another season before rough edges in technique can be ironed out.

“For the past year he was undergoing police training and not javelin training. He has a job with the police department now and had to undergo mandatory training. Now, I will start javelin workouts for him. I have already made small changes, like increasing the length of his runup on the runway. But more needs to be done. I don’t want to compare him with anyone, but his special qualities are his strength, flexibility and arm speed. This 82-metre throw is just a start. If he gets the right technical inputs he could be the next big thrower in the country,” Naval said.

The once ‘timepass’ tennis-ball allrounder hopes to make his coach proud. His switch from cricket to javelin hasn’t been easy. Three 80-metre-plus throws against his name — the first at the 2023 Federation Cup in Ranchi — is a sign of progress and potential.

As Sachin said, “A fast bowler who shifts to cricket has an advantage because of strength in shoulder and wrist. But javelin technique is different. People generally think a fast bowler can easily shift to javelin but that is not really true. But I wasn’t good at cricket, hopefully I can do something in javelin.”

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