Almost four years since record, youngster Ali Zorain Khan aims for Test cricket

Ali Zoran Khan (L) with Jonty Rhodes

Call it the nature of the game or the entailments of its evolution, but nothing polarises opinions like results. There were not many voices crying out for the current crop of Indian Test batsmen to alter their cricketing regimes till the Lord’s win. But the shambolic drop in the team’s performance levels since then has invited a tsunami of pills to cure the diseases that have been plaguing Indian Test cricket since the exit of its yesteryear warriors.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan suggested county cricket over IPL while his Kiwi counterpart Stephen Fleming emphasised the need to focus on cultivating Test specialists.

Test over T20s

Amid this growing cloud of concern about India’s upcoming generation of cricketers being nurtured around the charm of the shorter formats and associated lucrative offerings, budding talents like Ali Zorain Khan restore the faith of the Test-loving gentry.

“My aim is to be able to become a solid Test player who can stand in the middle for long hours. I prefer playing the longer format rather than T20s,” said Ali Zorain who came to prominence as a 14-year-old by smashing the record for the highest score in Indian school cricket in 2010.

Almost four years since his unbeaten 461-run-knock, Ali Zorain is currently one of the most exciting young prospects in Vidarbha’s cricketing arena. Playing for a club earlier this month in a Vidarbha Cricket Association First-Class Tournament, the 18-year-old helped his team reach the final wherein he struck a 177-minute half-century in a losing cause. However with half-a-dozen 50s in the entire tournament, the left-hander was one of the top performers of the event.

Ranji Trophy, the immediate aim

He now aims to emulate his recent success in the higher echelons of the game but is careful not to get too carried away. “The road to the highest-level is not easy and thus, I want to focus on one thing at a time. My current goal is to perform well in the upcoming under-19 tournaments for Vidarbha and try to impress the selectors for Vidarbha’s Ranji team,” he said. .

One of the senior-most faces in the Vidarbha under-19 unit, the teenager is due to participate in Vidarbha’s preparation camps and practice matches ahead of BCCI’s national under-19 tournaments later in the year.

Meanwhile, growing up since the record-breaking knock during his school years has not been a bed of roses in terms of his cricket. His 12th board examination forced him out of the 2012-13 season and a bulk of the matches were rained off last season when he was due to break onto the scene. Notwithstanding these setbacks, Ali Zorain has managed to work his way up the ladder. “It was a nervous start for me this season. But I applied myself correctly to get over the initial demons”, confessed the Nagpur-lad. He added, “But I’m disappointed that I couldn’t convert any of my 50s into big scores and that’s something that I have to work on.”

Jump up from school cricket to the senior level

Conscious of the fact that he needs to replicate his school-level performances at the senior level in order to make it big, the 18-year-old is prepared to give whatever it takes. “I have put that innings behind me. That was a different level where technique did not matter too much. Every ball I was looking to hit. But today, I’m working harder on the balls outside the off-stump and dealing with every delivery on its merit,” he said.

Training under the eyes of former Ranji players like Kiran Pawar and Subroto Banerjee at the VCA nets has also helped him acquire this sort of a mindset. Additionally, he still seeks batting tips and advice from his childhood coach at the NKP Salve Academy Mangesh Pande. He is studying his engineering from a local college and acknowledges the support of his family behind his cricketing career.

Since Mumbai’s Sarfaraz Khan amassed a record 439 during a Harris Shield (inter-school) match in 2009, there have been a host of young cricketers who have gone one step ahead almost every year. Ali Zorain stands out as the only one out of this lot from a city which is less known for producing cricketers for the national team. With his robust technique and mental fortitude to play long knocks, Ali, who although still has a long way to go, could well follow Umesh Yadav into being one of those players who could give further impetus to the region’s cricket.