The last seven days have been quite eventful for Shahbaz Nadeem. It started when he got a call to join the Indian Test squad as a backup for the injured Kuldeep Yadav, just a day before the final Test against South Africa at Ranchi, and was followed by his subsequent debut the very next day.
And as things panned out over the next four days of cricket between the two sides, Nadeem ended up playing quite an impactful role – picking up 4 wickets at an average of 10.00 and a strike-rate of 26.0 – in India's massive victory over the Proteas by an innings and 202 runs.
However, as things stand now, he finds himself out of the Test squad for the home series against Bangladesh as the very bowler he replaced, Kuldeep, is fully fit once again.
But Nadeem doesn't hold any hard feelings, for he knows that he still has some good years of cricket left ahead of him and many more such opportunities will come his way during this period.
“I am sure I’ll get to play more matches. I am not done yet. I have just started my Test career and I want to pick more wickets for India and make everyone proud.”Shahbaz Nadeem in an exclusive interview to The Quint
‘Ravi Shastri Told Me I Was Playing’
The 30-year-old has waited for 15 years and toiled hard through 110 first-class games, picking up 424 wickets, to get his maiden India cap. It was in 2004 that Nadeem made his first-class debut at the tender age of 15. It has been a long journey since then and even though he had been selected in an Indian squad before, for the T20I home series against West Indies last year, Nadeem didn't get to play a game.
Things could have been similar this time as well but it wasn't until the morning of the match that he got to know he was actually going to make his debut.
“I went for breakfast in the morning and that was when Ravi (Shastri) sir told me that I might get a chance to play in this match and when we went to the ground in the morning after 20-25 minutes ,Virat (Kohli) bhai came and confirmed that I am playing. I was stoked to hear that and just wanted that moment to arrive as soon as possible.”Shahbaz Nadeem
The Last-Minute Taxi Journey to Ranchi
Nadeem had to travel all the way from Kolkata to Ranchi by road as no flights were available on that day (18 October). He packed his things as soon as he got the call from BCCI around 2-2:30 pm in the afternoon and set out for the 400-km long journey.
“When I got the news there was only one flight at 6:20 pm in the evening and that was also full. So, I wasn’t left with any other option. I booked a car and had to leave for Ranchi as soon as possible.”
He reached Ranchi at 11 pm the same day. He should have been extremely tired after such a long journey but the thoughts of getting a chance to play the very next day kept him going. Incidentally, India batted first and Nadeem got his much-needed couple of days rest after the journey but he was all prepared to roll his arm over even if India had been fielding first, “Fortunately, I did get some rest as India batted first but I would have been up for bowling and giving my best even if we were going to bowl first.”
“Actually, you don't feel tired when you get to do what you have always wanted to. This was my moment. I have waited all my life for it. And I was going to live it and perform to the best of my abilities, irrespective of whether I was going to get any rest or not.”
The Tough Call to Leave Cricket
In fact, nothing has come easy in life for Nadeem. He had almost given up on his career when he was a teenager as his father was going to allow only one of his two sons to pursue cricket as a career, "It was 2003. Both my brother Assad and I used to play for the state and he was actually the captain of our U-15 team as well. Back then, taking cricket as a profession was very risky. There used to be no tournaments like the IPL. If you were playing for your country that was fine otherwise nobody was earning enough by playing in the Ranji Trophy and other forms of domestic cricket.
So, my father told us that it's very risky for both of us to take the same path and one of us had to go back to school and college for studies. Both of us were actually good in studies. Eventually, I stopped for around six or seven months. I went back to school, gave my exams while my elder brother Assad continued to play."
But Nadeem realised soon enough that it wasn't possible for him to stay away from the game. So, he decided to give it one last shot as he convinced his father so he could play in the state tournament one last time, "When the season arrived, my second semester was over. Then I convinced my father somehow to allow me to play. There were five matches coming up and it would have been over within a month. I told him I'll have enough time to prepare for my next semester even after playing all these matches and also told him that this was the last time I was going to play."
... Only to Return
It was one last throw of the dice by him and as fate would have it, he ended up picking around 20 wickets in the first two of the five matches and the next thing he was hearing was that he got selected for the U15 trials in Bangalore. He went there and cleared the trials as well. Nadeem broke the news of his selection to his father immediately over the phone and his father was happy to hear that as well. But he was still adamant that he was going to let only one of his sons play. So, it was his brother this time who stepped aside and convinced their father to let Nadeem play.
"He was the better player among us. Assad was an off-spinner who could bat very well too, and he was the captain our side as well. So, I'll remain indebted to my brother forever for the sacrifice he made for me. I wouldn't have been playing for India today if he wouldn't have done that for me," said Nadeem, who became emotional after narrating the whole incident.
A Dream Ball for Debut Wicket
Thus, when he dismissed Temba Bavuma, it was more than just his maiden Test wicket. It was the fruit of his hard-work and the sacrifices his family and brother had made in hopes of seeing this day, "The feeling has always been good whenever I have taken my first wicket at any of the levels I have played in so far. But the feeling of taking the first Test wicket for my country was something different. I can't describe it in words. It is incomparable."
He had set Bavuma up very patiently as well by bowling nagging line and lengths consistently. The surface was playing its part too as the ball was gripping and turning just enough to trouble the batsmen. So, Nadeem was just waiting for Bavuma to use his feet. And when the South African batsman did so, Nadeem shortened his length and the ball turned just enough after pitching to beat Bavuma's bat and go straight into Wriddhiman Saha's gloves. The Wicket-Keeper did the rest by completing the stumping.
"It was a perfect left-arm spinner's dismissal for me. I couldn't have imagined my first Test wicket to be anything better than this. I beat him all ends up," said an elated Nadeem who started out as a left-arm pacer at first idolising the legendary Pakistani pacer Wasim Akram.
Not a Spinner to Start
"I actually wanted to become a fast bowler. When I started taking cricket seriously, I became a fan of Wasim Akram. I used to bowl left-arm pace whenever I played tennis-ball cricket with my brother. Akram was a left-arm pacer as well and I wanted to become exactly like him.
"But my childhood coach Imtiaz Hussain told me that 'You are very small now. We will see if you can become a pacer when you grow taller.' Actually he wanted to make me a spinner and that's why he lured me in that way (chuckles). But I have no regrets because I started liking the art very much as he kept on teaching me how to bowl spin and here I am today."
In fact, the way Nadeem got introduced to cricket was just like most other kids of the 90s era. Watching Sachin Tendulkar bat in the 1996 World Cup ignited the spark in him to take up cricket as a profession, "It was my brother who told me everything about Sachin and slowly I started developing more interest towards the game. But instead of batting, bowling intrigued me more. So, it was Sachin who introduced me to cricket but the path I chose after my initial introduction was exactly opposite to what the legendary batsman took up."
And the path that he traversed wasn't easy at all as he had to shed a lot of perceptions to become the all-format beast he is today. Nadeem's initial success in the Indian Premier League made him earn the tag of a limited-overs specialist. He was still doing well in domestic cricket matches and the Ranji Trophy but it were his IPL performances that were only getting noticed, "I was picking up wickets and winning matches for my side in first-class cricket as well. But people follow tournaments like the IPL more. And that changes people's perception about the players a lot."
But Nadeem was determined to change that perception and he turned the tide in his favour finally when he ended up as the highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy for two consecutive seasons in 2015/16 and 2016/17. That was when the selectors started noticing his abilities in the longer formats as well. He started getting consistent outings with India A and got his maiden India cap finally even though it came late.
(Prasenjit Dey is a freelance cricket writer. He can be reached at @CricPrasen.)
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