“There was a time when I was not even allowed to get an idea of the cricket field,” said Ashutosh Sharma, as he revealed the toughest phase of his cricketing life, a day after playing the most eventful match of his short career. The 25-year-old Railways cricketer, whose 31 off 17 balls earned Punjab Kings a creditable win in a high-scoring chase against Gujarat Titans, spoke about the time between 2020 and 2022 when he didn’t know where his career was going. .
He had fallen out of favor with India’s most celebrated domestic coach Chandrakant Pandit, who had then just taken over as MP head coach.
“I went to the gym and retreated to my hotel room. I sank into depression and no one told me what my fault was. A new coach had joined Madhya Pradesh and he had strong likes and dislikes and despite being 90 scored points in 45 matches With balls in a trial match, I was dropped from the team,” Ashutosh said without naming the coach.
Although he did not mention Pandit, it is clear that he was referring to Pandit.
Following pacer Gourav Yadav (former MP pacer) and Namibia’s David Wiese (former KKR all-rounder), Ashutosh has now spoken out against the Mumbaikar’s “my way or high way” style of coaching.
“I had three fifties in six Mushtaq Ali matches in the previous season but I wasn’t even allowed to go to the ground. I was very depressed,” the anguish was visible in the 25-year-old’s voice as he spoke to reporters. .
It was a job offer from Railways that helped him out of trouble again and last year he equaled Yuvraj Singh’s record of fastest T20 fifty in 11 balls against minnows Arunachal Pradesh during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
It earned him an auction bid for Punjab Kings when the team’s batting coach and former railway legend Sanjay Bangar noticed him.
But if there is anyone who makes Ashutosh emotional, it is his childhood coach Amay Khurasiya, the former left-handed Indian, who has been watching him since he was 12 at the MPCA Academy. Khurasiya was there even when Ashutosh was facing a mental health crisis.
“Amay sir has known me since my childhood. I have taken a lot of tips on mental health from him. I speak to him before every match and even before this match I spoke to him. Also inputs from Shikhar Paaji (Dhawan), Sanjay sir about playing good shots instead of trying to dabble helped.”
It is a coach’s duty to mold a player, says Khurasiya
Khurasiya couldn’t be happier for his ward, whom he first saw at the Indore Academy as a 12-year-old, who had come all the way from Ratlam to pursue a career in cricket.
When asked how his career went downhill after Pandit’s outright rejection, Khurasiya spoke about his philosophy.
“You have to empower the child. Every child will come from a different socio-economic background. They will have a different behavior pattern. As a coach it is my duty to find a bond with the boy, but I would rather expect him to immediately connects with me. If His attitude is a problem, it is my duty to bring him into the matter and lead him there,” Khurasiya told PTI.
But he says that’s easier said than done.
“You have to do extensive work on the psychological aspects of the child. How to align the boy’s cricketing philosophy with yours is not the boy’s problem. It is easy to ignore, disdain and alienate the boy from the system. But if you have the power to help, try to help,” said Khurasiya, whose batting style was ahead of its time.
“If he (the coach) thinks that a boy is not going to make mistakes, he is wrong. Boys will make mistakes. The coaches tend to lean towards brilliance. For coaches it is important to work on EQ (emotional quotient ) instead of BQ (brilliance quotient),” he said.
Mother remembers a child’s lonely fight
It is never easy living alone in your teenage years and Ashutosh also had his share of struggles after his parents left him in Indore to hone cricket skills as Ratlam never had the facilities.
“That time was very difficult because I had to stay away from home in Indore. I also had some problems sometimes. I had no money to buy food, so I would be a referee to ensure that one meal was assured in a very small accommodation I had to wash my clothes but MPCA academy helped me. Amay sir helped me a lot,” Ashitish recalled.
His mother Hemlata Sharma said they are an average middle-class family but there were no financial problems as such.
“Ashutosh’s father (Rambabu Sharma) works at ESI hospital in Ratlam. We had no financial problems but Ashutosh had his own struggles from an early age. And that was when he joined railways, uske sitaare chamak uthe,” said Hemlata .
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