One would hop in to an overnight bus from Patna to Ranchi for matches. Another would hitch a ride on highway trucks in Vadodara. Today both are stars of Indian cricket. And on Saturday, Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya put together a stellar partnership against Pakistan in the Asia Cup.
Kishan, the left-handed wicket-keeper batsman, and Pandya, the right-handed allrounder, joined forces when India were struggling at 66 for four. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer were back in the hut. Pakistan held the upper hand.
Kishan, 25, and Pandya, four years older, stitched together a layered 138-run partnership from 142 balls, solidifying at first and then stamping their authority on the opposition.
Both players are typical modern Indian cricketers who came from humble backgrounds and non-metro cities. Pandya, India’s T20 captain, was born in Surat and grew up in Vadodara. At one point he, his brother Krunal and their parents lived in a 50 square foot house. The Pandya brothers would often travel by truck to matches, paying Rs 10 for the ride.
“We still have that house - one bedroom-kitchen. The kitchen would be the size of a small washroom. People keep asking how did we brothers grow tall so fast. We did not have a lot of space, but we had a monkey bar in the house and I used to hang upside down on it, do all sort of things,” Pandya told The Cricket Monthly in an interview.
He once uploaded a teenage picture of himself on a truck, going for a match. “I uploaded that truck picture because I cherish the memories,” Pandya said. “I enjoy looking at myself and where I am standing and where I was. I would not change 1% also, and because of all those moments, I respect my good days more.”
Kishan is one of two sons of a small Patna builder. A teen talent, he made his first-class debut for Jharkhand in 2014. Just two years later, at age 17, he was picked by the then Gujarat Lions for Rs 35 lakh for the IPL.
That was just the start. Last year, Kishan became the IPL’s costliest player, when Mumbai Indians bought him for Rs 15.25 crore.
During one phase of his career, Kishan would take an overnight bus from Patna to Ranchi for matches.
Recounting the memory to Aakash Chopra, he said, “The bus would reach around 5 am, and my back would be stiff as those weren’t comfortable journeys. I’d go straight to the ground, play the match, make do with whatever I got by way of dinner and take a bus back the same night. Because I’d have school the next day.”
Money and fame aside, Pandya and Kishan have become key performers for India, blessed with cricketing smarts, shotmaking ability and courage, as their exploits against Pakistan on Saturday proved.
