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The cricket interview/Pravin Amre

On the outside, looking in...

Pravin Kalyan Amre. Born 1968. Played for Bombay, Railways, Rajasthan, and India.

Does all that sound horribly like an epitaph? It is.

Encapsulated within those few words is the story of the greatest crime of them all -- criminal waste of talent. The story of a player of grit and class, fighting a losing battle against a system that is geared, not to encourage ability, but to dampen it.

The wristy right-hander has always cloaked his grit beneath a mild-mannered, soft-spoken style. Hitting the headlines first as a schoolboy, Amre played for Shardashram Vidya Mandir, Mumbai, where he married an excellent academic record with prolific run-scoring.

That in turn catapulted him into the state side, with Amre debuting at age 18 against Karnataka, in the 1986-'87 season.

That outing, however, proved rather inauspicious, and Amre switched to Railways, the move paying off with a brilliant century on debut on a track straight out of a batsman's nightmare.

He then played for the country's World Youth Cup style, and returned to continue his prolific form in domestic competition, at one point scoring three successive centuries in the 1989-'90 season.

Despite the prolificity, Amre waited another two years for selection, finally making the grade for the historic one day series against South Africa that signalled that country's re-entry into the international fold, in 1992.

Going into his one day debut with a first class average of 89.57, Amre hit a match-winning 55 on debut and earned selection for the tour of Australia, and the World Cup.

Being a member of the squad is one thing, getting to play a game is something else again -- as Amre found, when his Test debut was delayed another year. As coincidence would have it, his first Test outing was against South Africa, this time on the latter's soil. And he marked the occasion with a fighting century on a track where all other Indian batsmen were struggling to cope with pace.

And then came epiphany -- in the form of a less than successful tour of Sri Lanka. And with that, a batsman rated hugely competent against pace, outstanding against spin, found himself out in the cold...

The final irony came when, recently, Amre found himself picked, aged all of 29 years, for the veteran's team under Sandip Patil, to play the Sri Lankan veterans. This, at a time when he had just returned to Mumbai, hoping to force himself back into the state side, and parlay that into a call-up for the national squad.

Faisal Shariff met Pravin Amre for a long, free-wheeling chat on matters cricketing. Excerpts:

The cliched opening question, Pravin... your earliest memories?

It all started when I was in the 6th standard. I used to come to Shivaji Park, to the gymnasium there, used to field for some cricketers, helping them out. That is all I did for two years, field...

Then some guys spotted me and took me to Achrekar, and from that point my life changed. I joined Shardashram, played Under 15, West Zone, National Under-15, Under-19, University... and then I played Ranji Trophy, when I was just 18, my first match was the quarterfinal, in Bangalore, G R Vishwanath was one of the players in the opposite side...

Then I got an offer from Railways, so I joined them.

Why? Wasn't Mumbai the more high profile side?

Well, it was a very good offer, secure job, it took care of my family, so Achrekar-sir himself advised me to shift. Besides, even Sunil Gavaskar was playing for Mumbai during those during those days, so one could never be sure of one's place in the side, and its only when you play that you come into the reckoning for a place in the national squad.

You are right in a sense, about playing for Bombay -- I mean, like a player once told me, scoring one century for Bombay is equal to scoring four hundreds for any other side.

So by going to Railways, I was taking the tougher route to recognition, but I thought that if I have the talent, I'd eventually get there.

Then, in my first match for Railways I score 186 not out, and got selected for U-19 Youth World Cup. Then I started playing for the zone, in Duleep trophy I scored two centuries and a double century in three consequtive games, then a 246 in the Irani Trophy, which was a record. Also, I had the unique record of scoring double hundreds in Ranji, Duleep and Irani trophy.

Duleep Trophy was by far the best, I got seven 100s in 13 games, became the first player from Central Zone to get into the national reckoning.

Around that time I got a better job offer, from Air India, so I joined them, played for Rajasthan from then on. And that meant I continued to play for Central Zone. But after playing four games, they dropped me from the side on the pretext that I was an outsider, and also that I was a professional and therefore they would not consider me.

How could they do that?

Who knows? Players from East Zone were allowed, but I was made the scapegoat. All other zones had professionals for Duleep and Deodhar Trophy games, but Central Zone decided they wouldn't have pros.

So after playing all those games and doing well, this is the treatment I got. And playing for Rajasthan also got me nowhere, because we only play one or two matches and then get knocked out, so that would be the end of my season.

Finally, I joined Bengal because just a couple of years before, the Super League rule had been introduced, so you knew if you played for a good team you stood a chance of getting into the reckoning. But then the same thing happened, after we qualified for the knockout stage, I was thrown out because I was considered an outsider and they wanted only Bengal boys. So Hirwani and I were dropped.

Who was the selector there then?

Sambaran Bannerjee was one of them, the guy who is now a national selector. Anyway, I again shifted to Rajasthan, because I thought I might be in the reckoning for Central Zone because of my past records. And in fact, we went on to win the Duleep Trophy and Deodhar Trophy.

But there again, we were told that we were outsiders and that we would not be considered after the league matches. So last year, after playing against Vidarbha where I scored a 100, and then playing well again, against UP, I found myself back home, for most of the last season, all I did was play for Air India, and the usual Shivaji Park matches.

Is that why you have returned to Mumbai now?

Yeah. I decided that if I have to prove myself I will do it, I will perform here, and let the selectors decide. My basic goal is that I want to play at a higher grade --- I have already played for India and done well, so I obviously have the talent. So that is the level I enjoy playing at now, not just domestic league, and anyway, it doesn't motivate you when you know you are going to play just four league games and end your season there.

Is there any reason that you know of, why Central Zone is not accepting outside players?

If I knew the answer to that one, I wouldn't have made the mistakes I did. All I know is that it is a dead end, there, for someone wanting to make a comeback. Deodhar and Duleep Trophy games are the big ones, if you are not allowed to play those because you are a professional, or whatever reason, then where are you supposed to perform?

Did this happen only to you?

No, for instance, last year it happened to Chandrakant Pandit as well. We both couldn't play this year because we were "professionals"

Pandit was luckier, his team, Madhya Pradesh, qualified for the knockout stage of the Ranji league, but my team, Rajasthan, wasn't good enough to make it so all I got to play were the four league games. And then again, even if we had made the knockout stage, what was the use, I wouldn't have been allowed to play! This kind of thing leaves you with no motivation whatsoever.

I know that it will be very difficult to get into the Mumbai 11, but that is a challenge, there is an incentive for me to perform, it is more competitive.

And now you are in the veterans' squad...

Frankly, I didn't know about it till you called me with the news, I was not even informed. I mean, how can they pick me to play alongside Sandeep Patil? I am all of 29 years old, now!

Continued