'Struggle' is an operative word most of the time in most of the stories. The story of the Bihar cricket team’s captain Ashutosh Aman has this word etched in gold on almost all the pages that have unfolded so far. The best part, reaching out to him and convincing him for this interview was a struggle in itself.
Left-Arm orthodox spinner Aman holds the Ranji Trophy record for the most number wickets in a single season. He broke legendary spinner Bishan Singh Bedi’s record and that too in the 2018-19 season, the debut season for Bihar Cricket Team after being reinstated as a permanent member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. He surpassed his idol by picking up 68 Ranji wickets in that season, four more than Bedi.
Aman got past the 44-year-old record by claiming 11 wickets in the last Ranji Trophy game for Bihar in the 2018-19 season at the historic Moin-Ul-Haq Stadium in Patna. It was the same place where he had invited me for this interview. Moin-Ul-Haq was a champion sports administrator from Patna. It is ironic however that the stadium’s outer area is always bustling with sporting activities, albeit without any known administration. But that story can wait for another time.
I could not locate the 34-year-old Aman as much as I tried, and it wouldn’t have been possible to reach him either had it not been for a stadium guard to allow me to enter the practice area for the Bihar team on the main ground. Luckily I spotted Aman with the newly appointed manager. And I was lucky as the Bihar team was leaving for Chennai to play the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy the very next day, and most of the players had already departed, except for a few, including Aman.
Moin-Ul-Haq is a good facility as it is located in the capital and has most of the amenities required for training. But it is not where Aman started from. When asked about what advice he would give to youngsters practicing in small towns and mofussils of Bihar, Aman said, ”My only message to the youngsters would be to focus on the process.”
But what is the process that people keep on talking about, especially the sportsmen? Smiling casually he said, “Youngsters at an impressionable age are so much bothered about things like- Oh! This person is playing at such a high level or that person is playing in that league. But as youngsters one should not focus on where the other person is, rather they should make sure that they practice in a singular direction and things would change, if not today then tomorrow for sure.”
And ‘things do change’. Aman is probably the best example of how they change. Born in a locality in Gaya, Bihar, Aman wanted to play cricket. He joined Vijeta Cricket Club in the city. A city, which if compared to other places in India, would fall down to the category of a town. Aman’s parents, like any other parents in entire India in the 90s, wanted their child to study.
When he should have been preparing to make his way through to age group teams, the Gaya boy joined the Indian Air Force. Shocking as it might be, but he wasn’t forced to do so. So did the Air Force attract him because it gave him a chance to continue playing cricket?
Currently a Sergeant in the Indian Air Force, Aman says, “No, I did not have the option to play cricket. I come from a middle-class family and like every middle-class Bihari family, I was told that you have to get a job...so study hard. So just as I passed 12th I got the job.”
'Process matters' isn’t a cliche one-liner that Aman uses, it is rather a life lesson that he has attached to those lines. Because the process did matter. Unaware that the Air Force would give him a chance to play cricket, Aman continued his practice even during the training.
“I joined as an Airman (a new recruit is given that rank in IAF) through X category examinations of the Indian Air Force. Luckily I got selected for the Air Force team in the first year itself. Actually, I didn’t know and most people don’t know even now that in the Air Force you are allowed to play cricket. Over there, few senior men saw me practicing and picked me up for the team,” he said.
Even after getting picked for the Air Force team in 2004-05, it took him a long time getting into the Services team and even longer to make his debut. To be precise, it took him 10 years to get a List A game in his kitty when he played for the Services in 2014-15 Vijay Hazare Trophy against Delhi.
The outing wasn’t a bad one as he was the second-highest scorer for his team. Batting at number nine, the then 28 years old scored 22, which was only less than opener Devender Lochab’s 40. In bowling, he was a bit on the expensive side giving away 46 runs for a solitary wicket of Rajat Bhatia in his 7.4 overs. Services lost that game by three wickets.
The story continues...
*This story is the first part of a three-part interview of Bihar cricket captain Ashutosh Aman..the other two parts can be read here
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