Pawan: A Story of a Fulfilled Dream via EPL

As I was traveling to a remote part of Jhapa sitting on the seat beside the window. The greenery environment preoccupied my eye then I went deep down on imagination. Where Paras Khadka and Gyanendra Malla Anchor the Nepal inning to the respective total then, unfortunately, lost their wickets when they need to accelerate. Then a young player with a focused eye and aggressive mentality comes down to the crease to bat for Nepal at No.6. Then he bangs off some sixes and clean hit to a large the score of Nepal. Due to the sudden jerk of the bus, my imagination got disrupted. As my mind got focused on that imagined player and I started considering for the accommodation of him. Then I decided to move my pen on an aptitude teenager ‘Pawan Sarraf’.

Starting from a humble background in a West Bara colony, the journey towards the Nepal Cricket Team dressing room has begun on right note. Having recently played ACC Eastern Region Tournament in Malaysia and left his notched there, I chose to look back from where he started. Pawan Sarraf, an emerging Teenager, was born on 17th December, 2000AD. He was very fortunate to have a perceive parents. He grew up in a family which is somehow associated with cricket as his uncle used to play national level cricket similarly his eldest brother was also passionate towards cricket. As a result, his involvement towards the sports begun from the very early age of five years. He has two siblings, Eldest brother Jatta Shankar Sarraf, and elder brother Dhiraj Sarraf. Although his family was passionate about cricket his friends used to play football which somehow leaned him towards football than cricket at his early age. He used to play both of the game but he hadn’t taken cricket seriously till the age of 10 years. When he was 10 years old, he went for the Bara district U12 Football team selection for the District level football tournament. But unfortunately, he was disqualified.

His disappointment had been insulated by the encouragement given by his eldest brother, Jatta Shankar Sarraf to do something well in cricket for his nation. Then he started playing cricket in the nearest cricket ground, Kalaiya Cricket Ground. When he was 12 years old, studying in grade 7 he was selected in his school cricket team squad for the Inter School District Level Cricket Tournament. Although he failed to get a single match there that incident inspired him to work harder and do better in near future. Then his eldest brother, Jatta admitted him in the local cricket club, Kalaiya Cricket Club and fulfilled his cricketing requirements. Playing for the Kalaiya Cricket Club under the light of senior players likes of Bibek Lal Dalli, Sabir Thakur, Sandeep Barai, Subash Veshwal helped him a lot to sharpen his cricketing skills. Waking up early in the morning and attending practice session regularly, attending cricket matches after school in the evening had become part of his life which can’t be isolated by himself also. He used to roll his arm and swung his hands while walking on the street. He used to imagine cricket moves off the field too. He rarely got a chance to bat on but he used to get plenty of chances to roll his arm which helped him to grow as a bowling allrounder which subsequently becomes his interest later on. His seniors Bibek Lal Dalli and Co. had seen lots of potential on him and specially Bibek Lal helped him a lot to learn Off-spin bowling, his uncle Manilal Sarraf helped him a lot to sharpen his hitting ability. Later on, after two years he attended a direct close camp in Pulchowk, Kathmandu. He performed well enough to attract the selector’s eyes and grabbed that opportunity to be on the Nepal U16 cricket team. After then he had to answer people vibes in every step forward. People and relatives had tried a lot to convince him to study well rather than wasting time on sports as the sports was seen only as the way to the pastime.

But he was never ready to give up on his dreams which was almost synonymous to his brother’s dream. His father Ram Chandra Sarraf alongside with his mother Shova Devi Sarraf never pressurized him to give up on his dreams but somehow looking at the condition of Nepalese sportsmen sometime his father used to convince him to give priority to his study. But his excellent performance in domestic arena continuously helped his father to believe in his son’s dream. After he was purchased by Jagadamba Rhinos on the first Season of Everest Premier League, his whole family including his grandparents start believing in his dreams. His 4 wicket haul against Singapore in U16 tournament helped him to be on the squad of Nepal U19 Cricket Team for ACC Eastern Region Tournament. He grabbed that opportunity on style with his all-round contribution to the team to seal a victory last month. People loved him for his hitting ability and capacity to break a partnership with his lucky arm. He was recently purchased by the Lalitpur Patriots in the expensive deal of Rs.125000. He is in the Nepal U19 cricket team squad for the Tour of Bangaldesh and for U19 Asia Cup 2017. Selectors surely had an eye on this young ruthless player as some more good performance can lead him to the National senior cricket team. According to recent interact of Pawan Sarraf with CricketConcern he revealed his dreams as “My first dream is to play in the senior Nepal Cricket team as similar to every cricket loving teenagers” Pawan Sarraf says. “I dreamed to make a participation of Nepal Cricket Team in the ICC Cricket World Cup” He added. “I want my nation to get Test Status before I get retire from cricket,” He said when we asked him where he want to see Nepal Cricket Team when he will takr retirement from cricket. We (Cricket Concern Family) would like to wish this emerging player a very best off luck and wish him to have great cricketing career ahead!!