Baroda thug Vishnu Solanki had two tragedies in just two weeks when his father died days after losing his newborn daughter. Vishnu received news of his father’s death and watched the funeral via video call. The 29-year-old from Baroda has shown over the past two weeks that he has nerves of steel in tragic times.
It was February 10th, Vishnu was blessed with a daughter and with the bliss of fatherhood he was ready to start a chapter in his life. But a day later the child died in the hospital and Vishnu, who was in a bio-bubble, traveled to his hometown to attend the funeral when he just wanted to hold his bundle of joy in his arms and give her the first kiss on her forehead.
Instead, he performed the last rites while Baroda prepared for their game against Bengal, which he missed. No one would have minded if Vishnu stayed behind to be by his wife’s side when she needed him most, but for home cricketers the Ranji trophy is one of the main sources of livelihood and missed games in an abbreviated season are heavy losses -earned money.
Before his teammates could collect their thoughts, Vishnu was back in Cuttack for the second round match against Chandigarh, struggling to forget the tragedy that befell the young man.
He smashed a hundred, perhaps reminiscent of Sachin Tendulkar, who was back in Bristol days after his father’s death because his mother Rajni didn’t want him to forget his national duties
Not forgetting a young Virat Kohl, who scored a 97 and attended his father’s last rites.
But here was a man who lost his daughter and then focused hard enough to score 103 with 12 limits.
You need a quick look at his mindset.
But as if that wasn’t enough, on the last day of Sunday’s Ranji match, Vishnu received a call from the manager who was supposed to come in and received the news that his ailing father, who had been fighting, had died in a hospital in his Hometown.
“Vishnu had the option of not returning after the death of his daughter, but being the team man he is, he didn’t want to let his team down. It makes him special,” a BCA official told PTI.
The next game begins on March 3rd where Baroda meets Hyderabad, but one wishes Vishnu had some time to mourn. He probably doesn’t have time to imagine what it means to lose a child and a parent in the space of two weeks.
It’s unknown if Vishnu Solanki will ever wear the India shirt, but when it comes to temperament of steel, he’s right up there.
