Shahbaz Ahmed
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In brief
Joel Joseph, August 19, 2022: The Times of India
VIA BENGAL & RCB
➤Shahbaz Ahmed, a left-arm spinner & lower middleorder batsman, shifted to Bengal after he wasn’t selected in Haryana’s Ranji trophy team
➤Caught the eye of then-CAB chief Sourav Ganguly and found himself in the state’s under-23 team
➤Made 1st-class debut for Bengal in 2018. Was picked up by RCB to play in IPL in 2020
YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS
2018
Being picked by RCB was pivotal moment in Shahbaz’s career
Shahbaz Ahmed, who has been included in Team India’s ODI squad in Zimbabwe as replacement for Washington Sundar, has impressed everyone with his allround skills and temperament since making his first-class debut in 2018. He scored 116 and scalped eight wickets in a valiant but futile bid to win the game for his adopted state, Bengal, against Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy semifinal this year.
As a kid, Shahbaz discovered his obsession for cricket in the two-player matches he played with his father. The boy would bat, his father bowled. “He has been playing cricket since he was four. I had to bowl to him for hours together.
“Eventually, I would get tired, but not him! Just to end the game, I’d bowl a loose ball, which he would hit for a ‘six’. The match had to end because the ball would be lost,” grins 50-yearold Jaan Ahmed, who works as a reader at the sub-divisional mag- istrate’s court in Nuh.
In a few years, Jaan Ahmed was transferred to Hathin in Palwal district, where Shahbaz found an academy to train and a private school to study. He is a civil engineer from Manav Rachna University in Faridabad.
But cricket remained his passion all along. “After turning 15, he would travel 13km alone by bus daily for coaching. My job did not allow me to travel with him and I did not have the money to send him by auto.
“He also attended many camps of the Haryana Cricket Association but was never selected for Ranji Trophy,” said Jaan Ahmed, who played a few competitive cricket matches himself for the Shikrawa team.
The batting allrounder eventually moved to Kolkata. In the local league, his exploits for Tapan Memorial Club caught the eye of the ustads.
PTI had reported that in 2016, Sourav Ganguly, who was heading the Cricket Association Bengal, had urged U-23 coach Sour- asish Lahiri to consider him for the team. The pivotal moment in his career was his selection by Royal Challengers Bangalore, the IPL franchise then captained by Virat Kohli.
“The first thing he bought from his IPL earnings was a 42-inch TV for his grandfather,” says his uncle Mohammad Farukh, a school headmaster in Nuh. “Before his RCB selection, he shared an accommodation with two other players. Since he wasn’t good at cooking, he told his roommates he would do the dishes. He never disclosed this to us, fearing we might worry and ask him to come back home,” chuckles Farukh.
Mother Abnam, a homemaker, is praying that he gets to play at least one match on the Zimbabwe tour. And she has ordered a new showcase for the medals and trophies she expects him to bring. “I’m so proud,” Abnam says.
“They might not include him in the XI in the first two matches. But once they win the series, I am hopeful that he will get an opportunity to play in India colours in the last match.” she says. Before boarding his flight, a CAB note quoted Shahbaz as saying, “Everybody who plays cricket wants to wear the India colours. Being called up for the Indian team is a dream come true. Whenever I have played for Bengal, I have given my all. “The Bengal team believed in me. Given a chance, I hope I can win matches for India with my batting and bowling. I hope the team can bank on me.”
YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS
Till 2022 March
April 6, 2022: The Times of India
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Kolkata club coach Partha Pratim Chowdhury has witnessed hundreds of cricketers with dreamy eyes flocking the Maidans but never a young man with engineering books accompanying his cricket kits until Shahbaz Ahmed checked in.
It was a bit of a novelty even for the middle-aged Chowdhury, associated with Kolkata's first division club Tapan Memorial. Then 21 and pursuing a civil engineering degree from a private university, the player from Mewat is now a battle-hardened domestic bulwark showing his wares at the big stage.
Shahbaz, one of the pillars of the Bengal Ranji Trophy side, is also an integral part of Royal Challengers Bangalore and has shown his prowess as a batter with two game-changing knocks, against KKR and Rajasthan Royals, in the ongoing IPL season.
Stuttering at 87/5 in 13 overs, veteran Dinesh Karthik not only soaked up the pressure en route his 23-ball 44*, but also emboldened youngster Shahbaz Ahmed (45 off 26 balls) who joined his senior in routing Sanju Samson's high-flying Rajasthan Royals.
"Yes, this is my third season and there has been a lot of time playing at this position, so now is the time to deliver," Shahbaz said at the post-match press conference on Tuesday night.
"Today the situation was tougher because at one time, the momentum was towards RR (Rajasthan Royals), and the way DK bhai (Dinesh Karthik) shifted the momentum towards us, I felt easy to play with him at that time. And with the same momentum, we could pull off the match (in our favour)," the 27-year-old said.
His success story was preceded by days of struggle as one toiled on the hard club grounds with some bald patches of grass for comfort.
Kolkata's club cricket has always been one of the most robust in the country but when it came to dominance, Tapan Memorial wasn't considered among cricketing royalty in the 'City of Joy'. "We are a very small club unlike Mohun Bagan, East Bengal or Kalighat who can afford big bucks. Often we ask our senior cricketers to check out for outstation boys looking for opportunities.
"One of our boys Pramod Chandila (former Bengal and current Haryana player) got Shahbaz here. He was then in third year of engineering, I think. When he had semesters, he would skip a few games," Chowdhury recalled his association with Shahbaz. In fact, when he is in the city now, Shahbaz stays with Chowdhury's family in central Kolkata's Entally area.
"I have two sons and Shahbaz is my third son. He is now an integral part of my family. I think since he turned professional, he has hardly gone home. You all have seen that he has talent to own the big stage but not only on the field, he has a big heart off it too," Chowdhury said.
What amazed Chowdhury the most was Shahbaz's ability to maintain his shape while hitting half a dozen sixes in two games. "He recently went to NCA and I think he was one of the fittest boys. You know, he is the most frugal eater I have seen. At times, he won't even have a third roti. I still can't figure out how he generates such power. "By the way, he may be from Haryana but is now used to proper Bengali cuisine at our home," he stated.
When Shahbaz was asked last night about his role, he maintained that it was about playing second fiddle to Dinesh Karthik.
"My role is according to the situation, like we lost two-three wickets (early). But when DK bhai (Dinesh Karthik) came, I did not have to think much and had to play with him. The way he shifted the momentum towards us, it became easy for me to play with him. "He (Karthik) is very experienced and he told me how to play, can take on which bowler and that was very helpful. And so I could perform well," he added.
For Bengal, he has been a specialist spinner, but Shahbaz said that RCB wants to use him more as a middle-order batter, who would also occasionally bowl.
"It depends on the situation, a lot of teams have left-handers, so the captain gives the ball to leg-spinners. I hope that in the coming time, I will get to bowl more," he said when pointed out that he hasn't yet bowled for his team.
Anyone who thinks that his batting is fluke, Shahbaz has two List A hundreds for Bengal, apart from six first-class half tons.
In his initial days in Kolkata club cricket, Shahbaz played seven games and scored six hundreds and a bagful of wickets. There was no looking back since.
"He is a cerebral cricketer. Geometry is his favourite subject. Maybe the precision and the understanding of finding the right gap and angles comes from that. He would always be eager to talk about cricket, soak in as much as possible," coach Chowdhury said.
He has now played his third season in IPL and Chowdhury hasn't seen any change in him even after rubbing shoulders with superstars like Virat Kohli or AB de Villiers.
"You know I had no clue that when one of our club's groundsman (maalis as they call in the club circuit) Niranjan passed away, Shahbaz didn't inform anyone and directly sent money to his family.
"Recently, I was surprised that he bought a car and kept it in front of my house. I told him that since you are always on the road, take it back to Mewat and gift it to your parents. He said, Partha da, you should drive to the office," the coach got a touch emotional. "I completely give credit to his parents. He is an extremely well brought-up boy. His sister is a medical student, his grandfather was a headmaster. He has got a very balanced approach to life.”
B
Joel Joseph, August 19, 2022: The Times of India
Nuh (Haryana): As a child, Shahbaz Ahmed would listen to the cricket commentary of Jasdev Singh and Sushil Doshi on radio that his grandfather was hooked to. Mohammad Ishaq, 73, cannot believe that one day the commentary could be about his grandson. “That’ll be my happiest day, when he plays for the country,” he says.
That day may not be far off. Shahbaz, 27, is part of Team India’s ODI squad in Zimbabwe as replacement for the injuryracked Washington Sundar. A slow left-arm spinner and effective lower middle-order southpaw, Shahbaz plies his trade for Bengal and RCB. But he comes from the Muslim-majority Nuh in Haryana’s Mewat, named as India’s most backward district by Niti Aayog.
Shahbaz’s selection has prompted collective joy in a region where sporting models are rare. “There is no dearth of talent in Mewat. They need to be found and given a platform. Illiteracy and joblessness are our two main miseries,” says Ramzan Chaudhary, a social activist and chief of the All India Mewati Samaj.
