Ishan Porel, U19 braveheart from Bengal

India will bank on Ishan’s accuracy vs Aussies on Saturday

KOLKATA: Bibhas Das, 56, still remembers the text he sent nearly seven years ago. He had seen Ishan Porel only once after Anup Samaddar, a cricketer with Eastern Railway, had left a thin boy at Das’s academy at Deshbandhu Park in central Kolkata.

“I had written to Samaddar, who had gone off to work, that ‘this kid will go far,’” Das said after Porel wrecked Pakistan’s top order with a haul of 4/17. “He was around 11 and tall for his age. But what struck me was the pace he could generate despite being reed-thin,” said Das, who ran the academy on his own from 1997 to 2012 when former India left-arm spinner and Bengal legend Utpal ‘David’ Chatterjee joined him.

Das speaks like someone who has taken a shine to Porel. That is understandable because since that monsoon day in 2011 when Samaddar got him over, Porel has become so much more than just another trainee. “There have been times when I’ve pushed him hard but Ishan never said no. He wasn’t scared of work,” said Das.

Porel is from Chandannagar, some 45 km from Kolkata. Since he prefers training in Kolkata, he puts up at the Das residence in central Kolkata’s Sovabazar. For the Porels, Das is family.

That wasn’t how it started. The young boy would be shepherded from Chandannagar to the academy by his mother Rita.

“She [Rita] would cook my lunch and their meals and leave with Ishan around 5:30am. Often, because of training, they would be back only late in the evening,” said the bowler’s father, Chandranath.

Initially, training would be thrice a week but when Porel became marked as the special one, it would sometimes be every day. Some days Porel would be with an athletics coach who

Format FC

LIST A U-19

M 3 3 8

Runs 3 0

7

AVG 1.50

0* 7.00 worked to make his run-up smoother, said Das. Growing as a cricketer — Porel made the Bengal U-19 when he was 15 — meant academics taking a hit.

“Since he was good, we let him focus on cricket,” said Chandranath. In Aurobindo Bidyamandir, Porel also had a school that encouraged him to play, said his father.

Porel debuted in Ranji last year with a four-wicket haul against champions Vidarbha.

KABADDI’S LOSS Chandranath and grandfather Subhaschandra were known for their kabaddi skills; unsurprisingly, Porel was initiated into sport early.

“Table tennis didn’t work. Then I tried getting him into kabaddi. He was around 10 when he said he would like to play cricket,” said Chandranath.

The National Sporting Club in Chandannagar was the next obvious stop. From there, through Samaddar, who lived in Chandannagar, it was to what is now known as the Utpal Chatterjee Cricket Academy.

Porel isn’t 100% fit yet, according to Das, after hurting his ankle against Australia. “He usually bowls at 140kmph but against Pakistan he was bowling at 128130kmph. I could make out that he wasn’t able to land his left leg properly but what stood out was his accuracy.”

India will need him firing again on Saturday.

H.S 2* 6

Wkts AVG 13 21.38 2 44.00 10 22.90

Best 6/62 1/35 4/17