Exclusive: Age does not matter, at 34, Jayojit Basu focusing on winning trophies

It was 2014 when Jayojit Basu last played a match for Bengal. Since then, it has been more than ten years, and despite scoring tons of runs at the club level, Basu was never recalled. However, he has not lost hope of donning that Bengal jersey and, at 34, follows the "process" for the glory.

In the Bengal Pro T20 League 2024, Jayojit will be featuring for Sobisco Smashers Malda and before the first match of the season, he shared his thoughts in an exclusive interview with Sportz Point.

"Would love to leave a mark on the tournament"

"I never looked at any tournament with a different perspective. Be it for any club, Bengal Pro T20 League or county cricket I play. I play with a motto to leave a mark on the tournament," Jayojit answered when Sportz Point asked him about his perspective on the Bengal Pro T20 league as an individual.

"This is a huge tournament by CAB, and I would love to leave a mark on the tournament. The biggest motivation is to help the team win the tournament," he added.

Jayojit debuted for Bengal Cricket team in 2011 when the game was different, and T20 cricket had just come to the scene. However, since then, the game has evolved a lot. From 200 being a huge score to being a par score, Jayojit has seen everything.

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But, even during this period, the top-order batter adapted himself to the pace of the game and performed for the teams he played. After a brilliant IPL 2024, Eden Gardens surely will see more high-scoring games in the Bengal Pro T20 League, and Jayojit sounds ready for that.

Adapting to the pace of the game

"Not only T20 cricket, even in ODI cricket 400s are getting scored, and you will see 90% of the test matches are getting results nowadays. So, cricket as a game has evolved a lot over the years," Basu told Sportz Point.

"Every era has seen different kinds of cricket. And, as a professional cricketer, if you wish to play for more than 10-15 years, you will have to adapt. Otherwise, you can not play at a good level for long."

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But saying those things and doing that at a cricket field against a young pacer sending rockets down the pitch or a spinner tricking with variations is a different game altogether. With age, most start to lose some bit of their game, and only a few can beat the age to find glory.

So, does age matter? "No," Basu said. Citing Cristiano Ronaldo and Novak Djokovic, Jayojit added, "One day you will stop playing. But, till the day you put down your bat and gloves, you will have to live the life of an athlete. Be it with your training, nutrition and all the other stuff, you need to be like an athlete to play at this level."

Fitness with Skill - Basu's mantra

However, along with fitness, Jayojit feels the mix of skill and fitness helps a player to go long. As per him, cricket is mainly a skill-based game, and even if you are the fittest, you will not be contributing if you can not put a bat to the ball. Similarly, if you are batting well at the nets but can not bat long enough for your team or field well, you will not be helping your team as well.

"You need to have both—fitness alongside skill. To keep contributing to your team, you have to have both. That is why I try to maintain both to keep performing."

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"Jayojit Basu wants to win the Bengal Pro T20 league"

Recently, many cricketing sides have opted not to go for players above 30 and look for players who can give them more than ten years. But, as per Basu, "Bengal team under Laxmi Ratan Shukla, I don't think has looked at the age of the players. The team management has always chosen players who have performed. So, performing is the main thing."

In a T20 league like this, we have seen many players playing for the glamour or the money when they reach a certain age. But, for Basu, he has not left the hopes of representing Bengal again. Although for now, he wants to win the Bengal Pro T20 league with Sobisco Smashers Malda, and the rest will follow.

"Jayojit Basu wants to win the Bengal Pro T20 league for Sobisco Smashers Malda. The rest is what follows."

"Process is important, not the outcome. I have to think and live in the present. I cannot think about what will happen in September. I try to think about the next match including who I will be playing against and things like that," Jayojit Basu stated.