His innings till now!

Humility could be another name of Parveez Rasool. The youth icon from Bijbehara, who battled great obstacles to live up to his childhood dream of becoming a cricketer, shows no sign of arrogance or pride. In a lively conversation with Rising Kashmir's Online Editor Daanish Bin Nabi, Rasool talks about the recently concluded Ranji session, his upcoming stint with Sachin Tendulkar and the disordered cricketing infrastructure of Kashmir. Excerpts:

· Behind Parveez’s success is Sir Qayoom

· I was a batsman first

· I am optimistic for another call from Indian team

· I must say my selection to the Indian team is purely based on merit and nothing else.

· I don’t consider myself a Youth icon

· Sachin Paji is an institution in himself

· Alcohol has been described as Umul Khabaaith (Mother of all evils)

· I belong to a cricketing family

·         Tell us briefly about yourself?

I was born in and brought up at my home town Bijbehara. I belong to a cricketing family. So, at the very early stage of my childhood I dreamt of becoming a cricketer. My father was a well know cricketer of his district so was my brother. When for the first time I got selected for under14 team of my school teams this was the time my cricketing career began to flourish. From this period onwards my cricketing train came on track, and I gradually got selected to play for under19 team which ultimately led to the Ranji Trophy.

·         Tell us about the people who mentored you when you were growing up?

Sir Abdul Qayoom Bagga, who also hails from Bijbehara, has tutored me all the way up to this stage. I owe every success to him. As, it is said behind every successful man there is a woman behind. I must say behind Parveez’s success it is Sir Qayoom. In 2011, another legend of Indian cricket team Bishen Singh Bedi came to Kashmir. It was he who groomed me as a bowler, till then I was concentrating more on batting techniques. His coaching really helped in getting a bowler out of me. It was in a practice match that Sir Bedi got impressed by my bowling when I took four wickets of the remaining last five. Sir Bedi got serious about my bowling and started to coach me. I must also thank him who made me a bowling all rounder.

·         Which means you were a batsman first?

PR: Yes, I was a batsman. Sometimes, I used to bowl a bit in practice session and in matches as well. Firstly, I consider myself as a batsman and concentrated more on my batting skills. But when Sir Bedi came to Kashmir he changed it all. He coached me on my bowling skills first than on batting. When for the first time JK team qualified for under19 I took 25 wickets in that tournament. It was at this stage that I started to take bowling more seriously and started to work on it with help of Bedi Sir.

·         Do you feel yourself as an all rounder or a specialist batsman/bowler of the Indian team?

In Indian team I only see myself as a bowling all rounder. I do feel Indian team in weak in bowling department. So, I concentrate more on bowling to give my team an extra edge it needs. It was the bowling which led us down in recently concluded New Zealand tour as well and we lost 4-1 to them.

·         Recently you were included for Zimbabwe tour. Are you hopeful for getting another call from the Indian team?

Yes, I am optimistic for another call from Indian team. I also went to South Africa with India-A team. I played for India-A against the West Indies-A. In the very first match I took five wickets for my team. Ranji season which soon started after these tours went very well as well. I scored 663 runs and took 27 wickets. I am satisfied with my performance in all these matches and I hope to perform well in upcoming matches. Based on all these good performances I am hopeful of getting another call from Indian team.

·         It is alleged that your selection to the Indian national team is politically motivated to bring Kashmir close to India. What are you comments on it?

Be it education or cricket every Kashmiri wants to perform best in his individual field. From a cricketing point of view I don’t think my selection to Indian team is a politically motivated decision. It may be viewpoint of some people but I don’t think so this is the case. I must say my selection to the Indian team is purely based on merit and nothing else.

·         Do you consider yourself a youth icon for Kashmiris?

No, I don’t consider myself a youth icon. To be a youth icon is a huge and responsible thing. Firstly, I want to work hard to be an icon for Kashmiri youth. Every player of JK should get motivated from my story. If I can play for India so can they. I really want them to get motivated. I must emphasis on one point, that there are no short cuts to success. One has to toil hard for every step of success. This is my way of thinking as well. Hard work is the only key to success.

·         How do you view your team’s recent stint in the Ranji Trophy?

It was wonderful. Our team performed really well. Everyone played for his team to his best abilities. We even performed better than last year in Ranji. Actually, our teams winning streak had started from last year. In this year Ranji, we won four matches but lost quarterfinals to Punjab. We were dominating first two sessions in quarterfinal match as well. It was the third session which cost us the match. Our bowling in third session was very ordinary. Punjab was 55 for 5 in second innings they went on to score 300 plus runs in total. I must accept our bowlers led us down.

·         JK team was harassed at Jammu hotel right before the start of the match. Your comments?

It was a minor issue and not a big one. Let me tell you, it didn’t effect on our matches performance in any way.

·         What do you feel about the infrastructure of cricket in Kashmir?

There is nothing hidden about our cricketing infrastructure of Kashmir. I have seen other states stadiums and facility as well. And when I compare our states infrastructure with those states we lack in every department. I hope when our next session starts in JK we will have good facilities available to us.

·         What are your expectations from Tendulkar’s mentorship?

It is a big achievement for me that I have been included in the list. It is dream come true for any cricketer to learn from Sachin paji. It is a very proud movement for me. Paji is an institution in itself. To get a chance of learning from him is I guess what every cricketer has dreamt off. Whatever I will learn from him, I would love to share my experiences and tips with other members of cricket both at domestic and national level. I am very happy and looking forward to learn from him.

·         How do you feel about being sponsored by sports apparel Adidas and being on the Adidas team?

When any player performs well and to best of his abilities these entire things do come in ones way. Before nobody recognized us but when our team started to perform all of sudden everyone started to recognize and cheer for us. When one performs against a big team sports apparels and advertisement from big corporations come naturally. It really a nice feelings and I feel good about it.

·         Do you still have bitter memories of 2009 Bangalore incident?

Bangalore incident is past and I have almost forgotten everything about that incident. Incident such as Bangalore happens but life moves on. The incident does not hurt me anymore now. Let bygones be bygones.

·         Why do you always hide logos advertising alcohol on your jersey?

I am a Muslim first then a cricketer. Any form of alcohol, whether any advertisement logo or any other form it is strictly prohibited in Islam. In one of the Hadith Alcohol has been described as Umul Khabaaith (Mother of all evils). In my opinion, no Muslim wants to promote this Umul Khabaaith. I want to set the trend for all player of JK for not promoting the alcohol. Alcohol is harmful for the every society. It destroys nations. Alcohol should be condemned by everyone and at every level.

·         It is alleged that favoritism prevails in the selection procedure of JK team?

No, let me assure you there is no favoritism for the selection of the team. I must say that selection of players is purely based on merit. Only meritorious players get selected. Players get selected on their individual performances, fitness, technique and their hard work.

·         Bijbehara has produced a number of first class cricketers including you and Abdul Qayoom Bagga. Why do you suppose people from Bijbehara are so good at cricket?

In Bijbehara town there is cricket culture. If one takes a look at youngsters of Bijbehara they perform extraordinarily well at every level of the game. There is budding talent coming up from my home town his name is Aquib Nazir. He plays for under19 and is technically very sound as well. There is another guy his name is Abdul Qayoom. He is also a very gifted boy. I want to convey that in every district a turf wicket should be made available so that our young budding talent blossoms more and more. By doing so, it will be beneficial for our team in the longer run.

·         Bijbehara is also known for producing the finest Kashmir willow bats. Would you recommend it to other players at the national and international levels? In other words would you be the ambassador for the Kashmir willow?

Yes, I would love to be called ambassador of Kashmir willow for the promotion of our willow at every level. But the fault with Kashmiri manufacturers is they don’t make good bats. Another problem with Kashmiri willow is it is very heavy this is the reason I myself don’t use bat made of Kashmiri willow.

·         Do you think your dream of playing cricket is fulfilled?

No, my dream is yet to come. My dream is to represent India at the most highest level one such examples being World Cup 2015. I have completed half of my dream and I am working hard to fulfill the other part of my dream. Presently, I am working on my fitness and technique. And I am hopeful of giving my best performances in upcoming matches to get back into Indian team. 

Published at 04/02/2014