The narrow roads emanating from the bustling Commercial Street in Bangalore lead to a small patch of land that’s nestled between two adjoining temples. Chirpy kids, with their kit-bags in tow, make their way into the Karnataka Institute of Cricket (KIOC) premises and are ushered into a lecture hall.
With anticipation in the air, the kids face a projector-screen as a gentleman of medium built – clad in bright sky blue track gear - takes the stage.
As the kids listen with rapt attention, he speaks of Manish Pandey as one of their own and how he was spotted at this very academy as an 8-year-old. As spontaneous applause breaks out in the hall, the speaker tells the kids that with a bit of dedication and courage, each one of them could do wonders themselves.
Irfan Sait knows what it is like to be an awestruck kid - he was one himself. The year was 1969 and a 20-year-old GR Viswanath had stroked his way to a masterful 137 on debut against a Bill Lawry led Australian side at Kanpur. As a football playing school kid in distant Mysore, the excitement surrounding Vishwanath’s ton drew little Irfan’s attention to cricket.
“I didn’t know what a hundred meant but all the euphoria around the event got me interested in the game”, recalls Irfan. Soon enough, he was playing the game, had a new found hero in EAS Prasanna and was lobbing off-spinners himself.
But this isn’t the rosy tale of a kid growing up to play for India. Instead, it’s that of a man who took the path less traversed to live his passion for the game by nurturing youngsters who would in turn, go on to don India colours. And Manish Pandey isn’t a one-off success.
Long before Pandey was handed an India cap, the former India fast bowler David Johnson was Irfan’s blue-eyed boy. As was Robin Uthappa. Mayank Agarwal, the “India A” opener and Karnataka’s current Ranji Trophy stars CM Gautam, Shreyas Gopal, Ravikumar Samarth and Abrar Kazi started here as well. And it wasn’t just the boys that emerged to the forefront, there were girls too.
The former India skipper Mamata Maben rose from the academy. As did Karuna Jain and Nooshin Al Khadeer. England’s Sonia Odedra and USA’s Akshatha Rao have trained here as well. And when Vanitha VR and Veda Krishnamurthy strap-up to bat for India in the upcoming T20 Women’s World Cup, they will be counting on all that they have acquired over the years of training at the academy.
A natural leader
But coaching wasn’t always on the agenda for Irfan. When in college and playing cricket at Chennai, he was rejected for selection to the Tamil Nadu Colts team on the grounds that he hailed from Karnataka.
Once back in Bangalore in 1983, Irfan joined the Swastic Union Cricket Club (SUCC). “When I joined, only two or three boys would come for nets and there was never any regular practice. I said this is not the way to do things and that we should have regular sessions even if a couple of boys showed up”, recalls Irfan. “Slowly, I built the interest and very soon, one net was not enough as the boys knew that if they showed up, cricket was guaranteed”.
Having taken the initiative, Irfan was made captain of the club by default. “I had this in me – sort of this organization thing”, he says. And it wasn’t the first time that he had taken matters to his own hands. As a kid in Mysore, he had put together a school cricket team and had even formed an area cricket club (which he fondly christened “Banni-Mantap Cricket Club”).
From captaining SUCC to later running the club itself, Irfan was slowly but surely gravitating towards cricket administration. And he had plenty of support from the former India batsman Brijesh Patel and the late YB Patel.
It was then that his family popped the question – why not start a cricket camp? It was just the impetus that Irfan need. But the inevitable question surrounding cricketing credentials arose. He wasn’t a big cricketer himself, so how could he possibly coach or run an academy? Not one to be dissuaded, Irfan countered his critics by offering good facilities and services. Subsequently, armed with coaching certifications from India, Australia and the UK, he took the naysayers head on.
And it was in 1996 that the then India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin, inaugurated the KIOC with 33 students across 6 different age groups. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Irfan reminisces that times were tough, “grounds, management and finances were a problem. I was diverting funds from my retail business into the academy, so the former went into problems”.
But he persevered. “At the end of the day, every time I went to bed, I had the satisfaction and happiness that we have some wonderful cricketers. That gave me tremendous satisfaction”, recalls Irfan.
Twenty years on, the academy is now well established. And with dozens of boys and girls having come through the ranks and played for the state and country, Irfan has success stories aplenty. Tales of the prodigious Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa, who often finished run-chases in junior games having opened the innings, are recalled with a tinge of nostalgia.
Then there are instances of grit when Irfan had to speak to schools and parents to permit their girls to practice at his academy. It took him several meetings with the Swamiji – who ran the Poornaprajna School in Bangalore – before he could permit a young Karuna to play cricket. Karuna would grow up to be the vice-captain of the Indian women’s team.
Similarly, Irfan had to coax the father of a young hockey playing girl to make the switch to cricket. That girl became the off-spinning Nooshin Al Khadeer – the woman who would pick over a hundred international wickets for India. Likewise, he had to convince a couple to have their 12-year-old younger daughter relocate to Bangalore from Kadur in Karnataka’s Chikkamagaluru District.
The girl, Veda, became the vice-captain of the Karnataka team and subsequently made her ODI debut for India in 2011.
Striving for all-round development
Not one to sit atop the pile of accumulated glory, Irfan hands the success to the players - “I would rather give credit to the players as, if it were up to me, all the 1,500 students from my academy would have made it big. It’s only the specials ones, those that have sacrificed and worked hard, that have come up.”
“Irfan sir”, as the students call him, has himself learnt through experiences over the years. The coaching certifications notwithstanding, his stints as the coach of the Karnataka women’s team and at his academy, have provided him with perspectives aplenty. “All experiences combined, I derived that the first thing that any coach should make sure is that the cricketer is enjoying. They should be happy doing what they’re doing”, opines Irfan.
“The sweetest sound to a sportsperson is their own name”, he says. And so, at the academy, every cricketer’s name is on their T-shirts and coaches make a constant effort to put a smile on their faces. “We address them by name and are able to give them feedback because we know them personally. Every time there is little encouragement or praise, they come back stronger. They come back for this happiness”.
And it’s not always bat and ball. Instead, Irfan aspires for the all-round development of his wards. Discipline is at the forefront and latecomers are turned away. There is a emphasis on health, diet, nutrition and values as well. “Most often, we have sessions for the parents more than the cricketers. We tell them the value of nutrition and how to counter obesity. Kids are told the value of hydration. And when somebody does well, we tell them that you’ve done well because of all these good things. So they understand the value”, says Irfan.
The students recognize this as well. Ankith Udupa has played U-14, U-16 and U-19 for Karnataka and vouches for his “Irfan sir”, calling him the most hard-working coach around. And having just returned from his Karnataka stint at the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tourney, Mohammad Taha says he has grown to become a better batsman under the watchful eyes of his coach.
“I am very happy that my passion and profession are the same”
Having produced not just international players but Ranji Trophy and junior state cricketers as well, Irfan is today a contented man. He also has 13 cricket clubs functioning under the KIOC banner across Bangalore and Mysore. This way, the students aren’t restricted to just net practice alone. Instead, they get an opportunity to play club cricket and stake their claim for state selection.
When asked if he would call his establishments as cricketing business ventures, Irfan says, “I hate to call it a business, but I would definitely like to call it my profession as I am passionate about it. And I tell everybody that this could become anybody’s profession”.
Looking back on his journey, he calls coaching an immensely satisfying and challenging profession. “I am very happy that my passion and profession are the same. So whenever I am working, I am not exactly working – I am enjoying”, says Irfan, despite maintaining a seven day work week and a daily 6am to 9.30pm schedule.
And it’s a journey that continues to meander along the ups and downs that the sport throws in its path. Despite the years of travails, the zealous twinkle in Irfan’s eye is hard to miss. “Every little good thing thrills me and every little thing that goes wrong gets me worked up because something that I love is not happening the way I want it. So I work extra hard”.
With humility firmly in place, Irfan recognises all those that contributed – his staff, friends, family, well-wishers and his childhood heroes GR Vishwanath and EAS Prasanna, who continue to be a constant source of encouragement.
“I must thank the game and all the cricketers that made this worthwhile for me”, he says. And as the next batch of kids walk into the academy, Irfan ushers them in and chugs along - doing what he knows best and loves the most.
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