'IT' Happened to Me - Part 2

 If I were to broadly divide ourselves during our school days into various categories based on our ambitions, many wanted to become doctors or engineers. Most of the remaining ones wanted to become either Sunil Gavaskar or Amitabh Bachchan, i.e. cricket player or actor. Life was simple. There were no other categories to choose from. Of course, some of us wanted to continue their family business, and a few others dreamt of becoming a pilot or an army man. But they were in the minority.

I, too, wanted to become a cricket player. In school, I was a decent player. However, one day, I came across an article (about cricket, what else?) that analyzed the performance of Sunil Gavaskar from various statistical angles. Mind you, these were the days when we had not even heard about computers. Internet and mobile were perhaps not even in our imagination. So, information was very difficult to obtain. On top of it, I was staying in my home town, Solapur. Even major Marathi newspapers would reach there only towards late afternoon. With this background, I read the article and it just intrigued me. It was a great demonstration of how to look at any performance from a statistical angle. It immediately changed my decision about my career.

I did not want to become a cricket player anymore. As it is, I was sensing that if I gave everything that I had for many years, at best, I would end up playing one Ranji Trophy match for Maharashtra. Was it worth the effort? Certainly not. But I wanted to do something related to cricket. Now, this avenue seemed to have opened. I wanted to collect cricket statistics and analyze them. At that stage, I did not know (and care) if this could become a career. I also wanted to write about cricket. The last pages of newspapers would be devoted to sports news, and in particular, cricket news. I would read each word that was printed on these pages. I also started reading magazines such as Sports Week, SportsStar, Cricket Samrat, Kridangan, Shatkar, and so on. My parents allowed me to spend money on these, realizing that I was keen on following the game.

For the next few years, I did serious work on cricket statistics. It started with cuttings of articles and news reports. But soon, I started filling notebooks with scorecards, player details, and statistical information. I learned how to calculate series averages and started sending these to local Marathi newspapers. Surprised to see a 15/16-year old sending such information, the newspaper editors were first amused, but once they verified my authenticity, they were happy to publish it. Soon, this became my only interest and it started occupying most of my time. I was about average or slightly better in my studies, so there was no objection from my parents, either. I now had large registers, files, scrapbooks, books – everything devoted to cricket. Every little fact and figure was devoured with great zeal and interest. Soon, it almost became an obsession.

I started writing articles on cricket so regularly that everyone just assumed that I would now become a cricket/sports journalist. I liked the idea, too. It was very easy for me to come up with an article, many times, just on demand. I am not sure how good the writing quality was, but at least the newspapers were not complaining. My teachers would also sometimes encourage me, a few times embarrassingly in front of the class!

Soon, I met a few cricket statisticians. A new association of these people was formed. I traveled to Mumbai for its meetings. They were also quite intrigued. However, they accepted me very warmly. I started contributing to the association's journal and yearbook. My interest in Indian first-class cricket, an area sadly neglected, grew tremendously. I started collecting rare data about it and bringing some rare facts about it to light. I used to meet with Mr. Sudhir Vaidya and Mr. Mohandas Menon (who now works for TV) quite frequently. One of my books was published at the hands of the great Vijay Hazare in the presence of S Mushtaq Ali and Chandu Sarwate at Indore. Another was published at the hands of Prof D B Deodhar, who was called the Grand Old Man of Indian Cricket because he completed a rare century – he lived till he was 100.

So, I was quite determined to become a cricket statistician and journalist. I had also acquired all the necessary skills and experience for it. I had worked as an official cricket scorer and statistician in many international as well as domestic matches. I used to help the commentators in the commentary box, too. It was all exciting. I remember being in the same dining room with greats such as Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, and so on; during lunch breaks.

However, not everything goes as planned. I was now in college and reality was hitting me. I was asking myself: Can I make a career in this? Would it be a wise monetary decision? Is it worth it? Thankfully, I got a piece of timely advice from the editor of a newspaper in Solapur. "Keep writing", he said. However, "Do not allow it to become your only earning option", was his comment. It was profound and was resonating with what I was experiencing. I immediately made up my mind about it.

So, sometimes, deciding what not to do becomes important than deciding what to do. I was not sure anymore about what I wanted to do after completing my education now. However, I was clear about what I would not do. That led me to computers, and that too, because of very strange reasons.

But more about it next time …