Braving odds, Priyam Garg looking for new horizon
After setting records with heap of runs in domestic cricket, Meerut boy sets new goals for himself
LUCKNOW: The first thing you notice about Priyam Garg — the boy who amassed a mindboggling 800-plus runs in his debut Ranji season for Uttar Pradesh last season — is his unassuming nature and ever-smiling face.
As a big group of chattering foreign tourists enters the hotel lobby and heads to the reception, the boy, who will lead the India Under-23 team against Bangladesh in the five-match one-day series beginning September 19, remains unconcerned, preferring to engage himself in more important things, like watching videos of his role model Sachin Tendulkar playing a masterful knock.
“Whatever I am today is because of Sachin Tendulkar. Had I not seen him play, I wouldn’t have come this far. I grew up watching him. Before every game, I think of Sachin. That gives me courage and strength to score runs,” says Priyam.
“Even when I used to play with the tennis ball in local tournaments, I always tried to copy Sachin’s strokes. We couldn’t afford a television at home, so I used to skip studies to watch him at a nearby ‘panwaala’ shop,” he says. “That was a routine and I faced my father’s ire on a number of occasions. For him, cricket was not a priority.”
Moving from tennis ball cricket to the “actual form”, though, was tough initially. “I was always fearful of getting hit by the leather ball. But when I played at the Victoria Park Ground in Meerut, it was an altogether different feeling. After those initial hiccups, I settled down at the nets and started stroking the ball well. I always had Sachin in mind. Those exquisite drives on the back foot and front foot in the cover region are my favourites and I enjoy hitting them.”
Coming from a humble background, Priyam, who scored a century on debut in the Ranji Trophy last season, found it difficult to even manage a few rupees to travel to Victoria Park Ground from his residence in Quila Parikshitgarh, 20km away. But his passion to play for India was the overpowering factor.
Priyam always made it a point to be at the bus stand much before the scheduled departure, so that he didn’t miss training. “Holding my kits bag, I waited long hours as the bus timings were erratic.” With four ‘parathas’ packed in a tiffin box he used to leave for six hours of practice every morning and return in the evening. “Rest was out of question as I didn’t have the luxury of going back home.
“When I look back, I feel I did the right thing. I am progressing well in my career and I wish to score as many runs as I can for myself, and my team in all formats of the game,” says Priyam, who lost his mother very early.
“It was a really tough time for me and my family, but my father never let us in the family of five — including three sisters — feel her absence,” says Priyam, who had a half-century in his first season with the under-14 side when he was only 12.
His father did odd jobs, like driving a school van and loading goods. “Those tough days gave me the resolve and courage to handle any situation…and my father became my role model,” says Priyam, who will be captaining the India Under-23 side against the visiting Bangladesh side in the five-match ODI series, starting here on Thursday.
After scoring tons of runs in age-group cricket, Priyam scored 867 runs, including a double hundred, two centuries and five half-centuries in his maiden Ranji Trophy season last year. This year, too, he has been among runs for the India A sides.
A right-hand, middle-order batsman, Priyam is extremely strong on the off-side. His knack for big knocks has seen him score double hundreds in all age categories, including under-14, 16 and 19, and even in the Ranji Trophy.
“Rahul Dravid sir taught me how to keep my hunger for runs growing and that’s why I always look to score 200-plus runs. I admire the patience of Cheteshwar Pujara. When he was batting against UP in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final last season, I had a close look at his technique, especially his calmness in shot selection. “Innings cricket always helps a batsman check his
“THOSE TOUGH DAYS GAVE ME THE RESOLVE AND COURAGE TO HANDLE ANY SITUATION…AND MY FATHER BECAME MY ROLE MODEL”
patience as one needs to do a lot of homework to stay calm on the wicket. Likewise, I too stay calm in the middle, but my scoring doesn’t suffer on account of that. I am a team man.
Besides watching the footage of top India batsmen, including Virat Kohli, I always try to learn from their confidence and how they conduct themselves on the ground.”
A disciple of Sanjay Rastogi, who has also coached the likes of Praveen Kumar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Priyam sees the ICC Youth World Cup in South Africa in January a big opportunity for him to grow. If all goes well, he could be leading the side in the mega event.
“That’s the event where you get everyone’s attention and I’d love to play a big innings in India’s victory, if given a chance. I am raring to go to South Africa and have been practicing hard.
“I’d love to win the trophy in South Africa and I would like to dedicate it to my mother whom I miss a lot. I always think about her and feel ‘what would have been her reaction on seeing me don India colours,’” he says.
Priyam, who scored three half centuries and a hundred in his last six innings since July this year, says he enjoys the company of childhood friends, especially when they admire his achievements. “They (friends) laugh sometimes and express surprise as to how I could score big runs in matches, but at the same time they encourage me too,” Priyam says with a confident smile.
Rastogi too admires Priyam’s quality to stay calm. “Priyam is a different kind of batsman. His hunger for runs is insatiable. He never loses his confidence and has the ability to handle all kinds of bowling attacks. During a domestic match, he was hit on his neck, but didn’t lose his confidence and kept stroking the ball nicely,” says Rastogi.
Rastogi says that Priyam’s coach in the UP junior team, Kanhaiyalal Tejwani, has been instrumental in generating confidence in Priyam.