BASIL SYLVESTER PINTO
PANAJI
Hailing from the school of Khadoos cricket, Jatin Paranjpe was a stylish southpaw middle-order batsman who briefly strode in India colours in the late 90s. Though an unfortunate injury never found him don the national jersey again, he continued to play the game for his Ranji side with distinction and pride for a few more years.
He took on the challenge of being a national selector with elan when given an opportunity. Recently in Goa for a sports book launch, Paranjpe spoke exclusively to The Goan.
Following are the excerpts of the free-wheeling chat.
Q: A better part of your career as a cricketer was with Mumbai. Tell us about the cricket culture prevalent there …
Jatin Paranjpe: Basically everybody talks about the khadoos kind of attitude a Mumbai cricketer has. If you double click on what has brought about that attitude, then you look back at journeys of individual cricketer. You play age group U-14, U-16, U-19 and by the time you are U-19, you are already playing for some club. So the culture of club cricket in Mumbai is very hard. Basically it is a school of hard knocks. That is where the attitude of winning by playing hard but fair is inculcated. I think that is the root of the culture of Mumbai cricket. It is no quarters asked, no quarters given kind of scenario. I think it was more pronounced up to 10 years back. Right now, there are so many club tournaments that importance of club cricket is getting diluted to a certain extent. But I think the culture stems from the level of competition in their club cricket.
Q: You have had a stint as a BCCI selector until not too long ago. Tell us about the changes undergone in Indian cricket in that phase.
JP: The current Indian team is a bunch of fearless cricketers. They have that innate confidence that they can beat anyone in the world in any conditions. But at the same time they also know it is a game, you win some, you lose some. But I think we are seeing a new brand of cricket being played. The way Australians dominated world cricket for 10 or 15 years, you could well see such a phase for the Indian team because I think they have two right players at the top --Virat and Ravi Shastri. Both of them want to win, they want India to be the best. You can actually see a phase of dominance in the next few years from India.
Q: In the time you served as a national selector, what were the difficult moments?
JP: I served as the selector for 16 months which is possibly the toughest job I have done in my life. I have worked in corporate roles as well for 11 years, but handling that complex structure is another thing. Selection is an incredibly tough piece. It is always very subjective. At the end of the day, you cannot pick a guy only on performance. Then all the statisticians would be the best selectors. You need to not only look at the guy, but convince yourself with a yes or no. Then you also need to convince the other guys on the committee, followed by the captain and coach. To cite an example, Hardik Pandya, the entire selection committee was very sure that he is definitely the guy for India in all forms of cricket. I think MSK Prasad took the lead and said lets go ahead and do this. We are seeing the benefits of it. He (Hardik) gives the team a different balance altogether.
Q: The FTP was recently out. It clearly indicates India will be playing a lot more cricket than other major cricket nations. Would you see it as an overkill of international cricket thereby affecting domestic competitiveness?
JP: There are two sides of it. The Board is always careful that India is not playing as much cricket as possible because of the wear and tear issue. Because of IPL coming in April-May it is an all year-round calendar. But at the same time, India as the dominant financial power of world cricket sometimes has to walk a thin line in also making lesser teams play against them. When smaller teams like Zimbabwe play against India, the amount of television revenue which that particular association picks up looks after the operational expenses of that association for the next two years. It is all about TV rights. I think it is a tight rope which is done all the time.
Q: How do you advocate the powers-that-be strike the right balance between the bat and ball?
JP: I think one of the things that needs to be rectified in one-day cricket is getting back to the one-ball rule instead of two balls. If you have one ball then reverse swings comes to play. It needs to tweak a few minor things. It is always going to be a batsman friendly game, but you cannot have a batsman dominated game. That balance needs to be found.
Q: You briefly donned the India blue jersey. How was the experience?
JP: Fantastic. You get to wear the India cap. What better feeling there could be?
Q: You got to play against Pakistan. How it is like playing against them?
JP: It was a different level of competition and different level of intensity. And that urge to win is probably unparalleled. It is the mother of all derbies in India.
Q: An ankle injury early into your international career and you lost your place in the India side. How difficult was it considering you never got another chance to represent India?
JP: Injuries are a part and parcel of sportsperson’s lives. You have to take it on the chin. You need to take the positives. Keep moving on. It is as simple as that.
Q: Going back to the grind domestically, you scored 600 plus in a season, but never played for India again. Do you feel hard done?
JP: I never thought of it that way. There are points when you feel there could have been a result for you. You just shrug it off. You remember why you started playing the game and that is because the enjoyment it gives you.
Q: In your limited international exposure, which is your most memorable moment?
JP: I played a match against Pakistan where I scored the winning runs. That would be it.
Q: In your domestic career with Mumbai, what stands out in special memory?
JP: I think every Ranji winning season is my best. We won the title five times in 10 years. Nothing can match that.
Q: You have played for Mumbai with internationals like Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli. What is it like being in such a formidable line-up?
JP: It was a very strong team. Under Sachin, we had very definite individual roles to fulfill. So then even if it is an all-star XI, we had a job that still had to be done. The focus was basically on each player’s job.
Q: How have you been
giving back to the game?
JP: I have set up a business which allows consumers to book and join academies and coaches across India. It is an online platform called khelomore.com. I always feel that coaches have the capacity and on the other side, consumers are not getting enough opportunities or choices to know which academies or coaches are available to them. The platform is an aggregator of coaches and academies where you can book and pay for your coaching across 15 sports right from Mallakhamb to Chess.
Q: What is your message
to sportspersons?
JP: Enjoy the game. Play for the team and enjoy the success of one another when playing for the team.
