Parveez Rasool, a 23 year old kashmiri all-rounder who was detained by Bangalore police for questioning in 2009 in connection with suspected presence of explosives at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and was later given a sharply defined statement of being guilty. The reason being he was recently picked for India 'A' squad to play against England. A splendid comeback indeed!
Parveez's dreams took flight surrounded by gunfire and bloodshed but he was the first cricketer from the valley to be picked for the India 'A' team, was so captivated by the 22-yard strip that he can't remember the violence that scarred the beauty of Kashmir. In fact, the 23-year-old all-rounder appeared for India 'A' in a practice match against England XI on Sunday. The act of courage was the reason for him to be able to restore his honor being the youngster, who was detained by Bangalore police for questioning in 2009 in connection with suspected presence of explosives at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
He was, however, given a sharp statement a few days later. Rasool told PTI:"It was a not a great thing to happen, whether by any mistake or an error in the machine or whatever... I didn't spend too much time thinking over it," he concludes, because "at the end of the day I thought that I am a cricketer and my job is to play. This thing could have happened with anyone for that matter and unfortunately it was me on that fateful day," added Rasool, who hails from Bijbehara in South Kashmir's Anantnag district, once considered to be a hot-bed of militancy.
The modest cricketer is grappling to come to terms with the new-found fame and is more than happy to narrate his journey with enthusiasm to everyone that rings him up with a congratulatory hello. In fact, he says: "Last few days have been out of this world. It is an amazing feeling. My phone has been bombarded with congratulatory messages and people want to know about me. All this seems so surreal," said Rasool.
When being asked if the sound of bullets ever distracted him from cricket, the all-rounder came up with a sharp "no". "I don't even remember one such incident. My focus has always been on cricket," said Rasool who earlier had a chance to hone his skills alongside India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. About which he expresses saying that "It was a great feeling. I can't express it in words. I bowled at Dhoni and he offered me some tips also. Sharing Indian team's dressing room and being their part... It was certainly one of those days which I won't forget throughout my life.
"It really was amazing being in that team bus... ," said the off-spinner, who bagged 33 wickets in the Ranji Trophy this season. Rasool also amassed 594 runs from seven matches at a healthy average of 54 runs per innings. He certainly has shown a lot of promise but there is still a lot more to prove.
When asked what if he would not have got a chance to showcase his skills against England, Rasool said, "There are 14 players in the squad and I know only 11 can play. I would not have felt let down. Instead it would have motivated me to do even better in future."
" India 'A' coach, Lalchand Rajput, says about the J&K cricketer that he has the talent, but the thing is that you need to transform that talent into performance against a quality side and that the youngster, though, is confident that it is just the beginning of a journey.
To conclude, Rasool added "It was nothing major. There was some misunderstanding between players and coach which has been sorted out," It is indeed an inspiration for the human-kind!
(AW: Samrat Biswas)
