Baroda batter Vishnu Solanki, who lost his newborn a few days back, braved his personal tragedy to score a valiant hundred against Chandigarh in a Ranji Trophy 2022 encounter on Friday in Bhubaneswar. Baroda reached 398 for 7 at the end of play on Day 2 to gain a significant lead of 230 runs over Chandigarh, who were bundled out for 168 in their first innings.
Solanki, who came to bat at No.5, scored an unbeaten 103 off 161 balls. His valiant hundred featured 12 boundaries and the Baroda batter got able support from opener Jyotsnil Singh. Jyotssnil scored a well-paced 96 before being run out as Baroda dominated the Chandigarh bowling attack.
Solanki was in Bhubaneswar along with his Baroda teammates when he received the unfortunate news. He then flew back to Vadodara to attend the funeral of his daughter. However, three days later, he took a flight back to Bhubaneswar.
Saurashtra’s wicketkeeper, batter Sheldon Jackson hailed Solanki for braving his personal tragedy to score a century in the Ranji Trophy game. “What a player. Has to be the toughest player I have known. A big salute to Vishnu and his family by no means this is easy. Wish you many more hundreds and a lot of success,” Jackson tweeted.
“Story of a Cricketer who lost his new born daughter a few days ago. He attends the funeral and gets back to represent his team to get a hundred. His name may not make social media “likes”, but for me #vishnoosolanki is a real life hero. An inspiration,” Baroda Cricket Association CEO Shishir Hattangadi also tweeted.
