Indian Premier League (IPL) haters are many. And the tournament’s successes are seen as mostly of the commercial kind.
But to quote a line from The Godfather; it’s not been just dollars and cents.
The IPL has also achieved something noble. It gives opportunities to hundreds of cricketers from all parts of India, and often changes the fortunes of ordinary families. It has made cricket even more Indian.
Two testimonies to this are wicketkeeper batsman Ishan Kishan, 23, and fast bowler Avesh Khan, 25, the two most expensive picks at this year’s IPL auction.
Their lives had already been changed by cricket. Kishan, the son of a small Patna builder, Pranav Kumar, had made his first-class debut for Jharkhand in 2014. Two years later, at just 17, he bagged his first IPL contract when the Gujarat Lions bought him for Rs 35 lakh.
Avesh, from Madhya Pradesh, also made his first-class debut in late 2014. Three years on, Royal Challengers Bangalore bought him for Rs 10 lakh.
Unlike Kishan, though, he came from a challenging background. Avesh’s father Ashique, a local player who introduced his son to the sport, ran a paan shop in Indore which was razed during road-widening.
At the auction last weekend, Mumbai Indians paid Rs 15.25 crore for Kishan, making him this year’s costliest player. Avesh became the highest paid uncapped player in the league’s history, when Lucknow Super Giants secured him for Rs 10 crore.
Both are classic Indian success stories, with a certain je ne sais makkhan and zarda.
Kishan, like his namesake Lord Krishna, was mischievous growing up, breaking glass windows while playing cricket, playing pranks such as bolting neighbours’ doors, and escaping the tedium of the classroom by sitting outside the principal’s office, pretending to be under punishment.
His brother Raj was a promising cricketer, too. But the boys’ parents thought that at least one of their sons should pursue academics, so as to cut the risk.
Uttam Mazumdar, Ishan’s coach, saw high potential in him. So it was Raj who gave up cricket. He is now a doctor.
In the movie Khosla ka Ghosla, the character of Anupam Kher has two sons. The elder (Parvin Dabas) is bespectacled and academically successful. The younger one (Ranvir Shorey) is impatient and still finding his path in life. In one scene, the rapacious builder Kishen Khurana (Boman Irani), unfulfilled as a father, tells Kher how lucky he is to have “ek chashme wala, ek gussewala.” This way, the family’s bases were covered.
The same could be said of the Kishans.
Kishan, who has a Sai Baba tattoo on his right arm, might have been blessed with a joyful childhood. But he also worked hard.
“I’d take an overnight bus from Patna to Ranchi to play matches. The bus would reach around 5 am, and my back would be stiff as those weren’t comfortable journeys,” Kishan told Aakash Chopra in an interview. “I’d go straight to the ground, play the match, make do with whatever I got by way of dinner and take a bus back the same night. Because I’d have school the next day.”
(Image via Twitter.com/@Avesh_6)
Exit Patna and Jharkhand. Enter Indore, Avesh’s hometown. The city is known for its love of food and for its regal past. But life wasn’t as breezy as an evening in Sarafa Bazaar for the Khans, especially after Ashique Khan lost his paan shop.
However, by playing cricket from an early age with Avesh, Khan Sr had planted a seed that would come to fruition soon. Besides, while there may have been financial hardship at home, Avesh was not short of emotional nurturing. He has spoken of the presence around him of parents, his grandmother, some relatives, and coaches like former India batsman Amay Khurasiya.
“Yes, I was fortunate to have good coaches. But I couldn’t have been what I am without the support of my family. This (playing professional cricket) is the least I could have done to repay them. That was the only thing that has ever mattered to me, to put a smile on their face,” Avesh told The Indian Express earlier this year.
Avesh loves bowling fast. And he enjoys being in Indore with his near and dear ones.
“It’s my world, and whenever I am at home, I spend all the time with them, talking, chatting and being naughty at times. I don’t get this warmth anywhere,” he said.
He and Kishan must make the most of whatever family time they get, because chances are they will be travelling a lot, far and wide.
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