On Unfulfillable Dreams: The Indian Cricket Numbers Game

Today, very sadly, we lost to a rare form of cancer the actor Irrfan Khan, he of the long and multi-lingual Indian TV and film career and crossover success with Slumdog Millionaire, Life of Pi and Jurassic World. He was a compelling screen presence with a lovely voice, and will be sadly missed.

In reading about him, I gleaned that Irrfan was a good young cricketer - so good that he was selected for the CK Nayudu Trophy, India’s most prestigious U23 tournament and one that has launched dozens of first-class and international careers. To take just the 2005 final as a random example, Murali Vijay, R Ashwin, Ambati Rayudu and Pragyan Ojha all had significant India careers and all but two of the other players played Ranji Trophy cricket.

Selection for the Nayudu is a hugely impressive achievement, doubly so as in the late 80s when Irrfan was eligible for U23 cricket the tournament was zonal, so he was selected among budding cricketers from all over North India. But being from a working class background he was unable to afford the Rs 600 ($7.96 US, £6.40) for transportation and living expenses for the trip to Bombay where the tournament was taking place. The National Drama School cost half of this, which his sister was able to scrape together for him, and so it was here that his cricketing dream ended.

I’ve written before about the sacrifices and lifestyle changes made by young Indian cricketers and their families in pursuit of the transformative financial rewards that even a moderate professional career, never mind IPL or Team India mega-wealth, can bring them. Hardik Pandya’s family gave up their business and shifted cities when he was very young to give him more cricketing opportunities, Mohammed Shami and Zaheer Khan both moved halfway across the country by themselves, and to take a snapshot, about half of the squad that toured England in 2018 had lost a parent young.

But given that the number of regular cricketers in India is higher than the population of most countries, it doesn’t take a huge leap of mathematical imagination to think of all the hundreds of millions of Irrfan Khans there must have been through the decades who worked and practiced and scraped and for whatever reason didn’t get the break they needed and were lost to the game. Perhaps they or their families couldn’t get enough money together at the right time, or there was an untimely injury, or they fell victim to the sheer grinding mathematics of it all (ten promising all-rounders into, say, three state academy spots doesn’t go).

Irrfan had another opportunity, and his drive and skill enabled him to take advantage of it, build a fine career and change his family’s fortunes. But whenever this current pandemic eases and cricket does come back, and you’re watching the stars who made it, think of how many of your fellow viewers walked partway along the same path and found their way blocked.

PS - I would love to read an in-depth look at those who didn’t come out on the right side of the numbers game. Hell, I would love to write it. If you or someone you know of falls into that category and you’d like to tell your story, let me know!