Ranji Trophy: Need to score 1,000 runs, qualify for knock-outs, says Shubham Khajuria
Jammu and Kashmir’s Shubham Khajuria is hoping 2015-16 will be his breakthrough season. (Express Photo by: Shuaib Masoodi)
Shubham Khajuria,
Age: 20, Team: J&K
Last year, prior to the start of the Ranji season, it was the elements that Shubham Khajuria was battling.
As Jhelum kept rising in the town of Sonwar, threatening to submerge everything in its wake, Khajuria swam to safety of the elevated Army helipad. This year around, like the rest of his Jammu & Kashmir cricket team, he was up against humans who had swamped the cricket with their politics.
In between he had a battle against his own body. It’s been quite a year for the 20-year old, who now has a simple goal for this season: Score 1000 runs and help his team qualify for the knockouts. And remain fit through the season.
Not long after his hundred and a fifty helped J&K register a dreamy win against Mumbai in the first game of the last season, things started to spiral out of control. His shoulder gave way, and his dreams of a great season went bust.
Not only was he out of the Ranji Trophy, he had to undergo a surgery as well. Once he recovered from the surgery at the Kokilaben Ambani Hospital, he began his convalescence in Mumbai.
A Mumbai connection
He stayed at a ‘PG’ in a flat owned by an actor J Rajput who played a role in ‘MSG, Messenger of God’ movie in Andheri West, a city suburb. It must have been interesting times though Khajuria just smiles when probed.
He stayed for six months in the city, and began to practice at an academy owned by Apoorva Desai in Andheri East, who had earlier coached him a bit.
The first few days with the bat felt odd. There was some tension too. “The rhythm wasn’t there and there was a fear how it will all play out. Luckily, to my great relief, it all began to start flowing smoothly soon.”
After a few weeks, he moved to Bangalore to the National Cricket Academy to continue his rehab and work hard on his fitness. The training was tough, he says, but slowly the body began to respond. A few practice matches in the KSCA tourney, where he played for the NCA side, helped kick start his batting and confidence.
Meanwhile, J&K cricket was threatening to implode. Luckily, he was shielded from the torrid situation by his presence in Bangalore. And when he returned last month to his home, he found that Mithun Manhas, who had moved to the state after years of playing for Delhi, was the man to report to and who took Khajuria under his wings.
“He told me to forget about the uncertainty and just continue working on my game and fitness.”
Khajuria’s father, a science and math teacher at a small school, and mother, a housewife, whose nerves were frayed last year when they waited in dry Jammu to hear from their son, struggling in the Srinagar floods, are now hoping that their son remains sheltered from the cricket politics and remains fit to have a good season with the bat.
