Jayant Goyat reveals he considered quitting cricket two years ago

Jayant Goyat claimed his maiden five-wicket haul for Services against Delhi at the Airforce Complex Ground in Palam on Wednesday, finishing with figures of 23.4-4-65-5 in his 12th First Class appearance.

The 21-year-old seam-bowling all-rounder, who stands at 6'4", was recruited by the Indian Airforce under the Agniveer scheme and received praise from his Services teammates after the performance; the combination of height and all-round seam ability is described in the report as rare in a system historically deprived of seam-bowling all-rounders.

Goyat took two wickets on Tuesday and then cleaned up the Delhi lower order quickly on Wednesday, producing the match figures recorded by the scorebook.

“It is a very good feeling to get my first fifer. The pitch is slow and flat. I put in extra effort and got the results,” the soft-spoken Goyat told reporters.

Goyat, an admirer of Jacques Kallis, says he considers bowling his stronger suit but was more focused on his batting until a couple of years ago; he was in the fray for India’s u-19 World Cup squad in 2024 on the back of his batting and remembers a century in a u-19 Challenger series quarterfinal in the build-up.

Around that period he nearly quit the game after a lean patch in a district-based tournament in Haryana, but his father persuaded him to continue.

“I hadn’t performed in 3-4 matches on the trot. I had decided midway into a game that I will quit cricket. He motivated me, and helped me get out of that slump,” said the youngster. His father, Dr. Wazir Singh Goyat, had been in Haryana’s Ranji squad during Kapil Dev’s final season.