'I paid for my obsession'
By: Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
June 22, 2007
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Three years after his ban, Abhijit Kale says he has emerged a better man
Three years after receiving a fateful ban for his involvement in a bribery scandal, Abhijit Kale is a changed man – sadder, without humour but more sensible.
In March 1988 he was chosen, along with Sachin Tendulkar, as the most promising junior cricketer in Bombay;
in March 1992 he cracked 153 against the New Zealand Under-19 tourists, overshadowing a young Rahul Dravid; in December 1993 he rattled off 132 on first-class debut against Baroda;
In November 2001 he made 122 against the touring English at Jaipur; in April 2003 he played his first and only ODI against Bangladesh at Dhaka; and in November 2003 he was accused of offering two national selectors a bribe for a place in the Indian side.
Not many had heard of Abhijit Kale before November 2003, far fewer have heard of him since.
On November 20, 2003, though, he was front-page material, when Kiran More and Pranab Roy, two former cricketers turned national selectors,
accused Kale of offering Rs 10 lakhs (approximately US$21,900 ) for a place in the Indian side.
Seven months later he was banned and allowed to return only in January 2005.
Since his return to first-class cricket Kale has slipped into further oblivion.
He’s changed his team from Maharashtra to Tripura and struggled for runs.
He’s a changed person too — “sadder, without as much humour, but more sensible” — and is trying his best to “start enjoying the game once again”.
One of India’s most promising junior cricketers and one of the most consistent first-class batsmen is trying to figure out where it all went wrong.
Regret
“It all happened in too much of a hurry,” he told Cricinfo, “and I didn’t have time to even stop and think initially. Suddenly I realise that I’ve been banned, for a whole season of four-day games. I was broken.”
Being banned for most of the 2004-05 season had a traumatic effect. “I was mentally gone — I put on weight, I didn’t have the motivation to practice, I was totally blank.
I used to go to work at Bharat Petroleum but it made things worse. I was so obsessed with the game that taking it away from me had a drastic effect.”
There’s not an ounce of anger in Kale’s voice; it’s sober and introspective. It helps because the interview turns into a discussion where he refers to his “big mistake” and “serving punishment”.
He mentions “destiny” and admits he can’t blame anyone but himself and “circumstances”. He isn’t too comfortable recounting the details but is remarkably candid while analysing the possible motive.
“When I look back now I have a clearer understanding. All my life I have been desperate about being selected in teams.
Starting from under-16, I always felt I was never rewarded for scoring big. I remember making 153 for India Under-19 early on, yet I never got picked for Mumbai.
No recognition
For three seasons I was in the Mumbai reserves. I scored heavily in local matches, yet there was no recognition. At one point my only aim was to play one Ranji match.
“All this made me excessively focussed towards cricket. Every time I didn’t get picked I would go back and work harder, think more, be more desperate to make it. It used to eat into me almost.
Looking back I regret that obsession — I shouldn’t have taken all this so seriously, I should have enjoyed my cricket more.” Lack of enjoyment has translated to lack of runs. Since his return to first-class cricket he’s managed just two 35-plus scores in 17 first-class innings.
“I made a mistake by leaving Maharashtra — they dropped me and I took an impulsive decision to shift states,” he says of his move to Tripura before last season. “It was a communication gap — they didn’t exactly tell me the reasons.
Also, there were too many things going on in my head then — I hadn’t yet recovered from that incident. I am trying to move back to Maharashtra; I can’t think of playing for any other state now.”
Tripura experiment
The Tripura experiment was a qualified disaster. “It’s the first time in 14 seasons that I’ve failed in first-class cricket and I just want to put it behind me. Somehow nothing clicked.”
Several years later, Abhijit Kale will be the answer to a quiz question. It won’t be about a teenage prodigy who dominated bowlers in the Bombay leagues, neither will it involve a ruthlessly consistent domestic cricketer.
Kale knows that he will always be associated with that incident. Importantly he’s accepted that and is now trying to move on.
Courtesy: Cricinfo
AuthorTopic: 'I paid for my obsession' : Abhijit Kale (Read 624 times)
February 05, 2006, 07:36:02 AM