Ajit Pahalwan, a resident of Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, tried making headway as a cricketer there, but did not have much luck. He then moved to Delhi only to draw a blank in terms of opportunities. On a friend’s advice, he came to Mumbai in 2017. And though he found avenues to hone his skills in India’s cricketing capital, there were struggles on the other side of the pitch as it were. Today, Pahalwan, 22, plays for various Mumbai Cricket Association-affiliated teams and is on the right path to becoming a well known name on the local circuit.
Hard times
“I had no place to stay in Mumbai. I used to practise during the day and sleep wherever I could find place — sometimes at construction sites — or even Malad railway station. “I went to Shailesh Dubli Cricket Academy and eventually got a chance to play. The coach there asked me to come and practise every day. I would walk to the field and eat whatever little I managed to get,” Ajit tells Sunday mid-day.
Pahalwan’s coach, Umesh Patwal
At the academy, he befriended Danish Chowdhary, 16. “When he [Danish] learnt about my living condition, he told his father Javed about me. Javed sir gave me a place to stay in his office at Ekta Nagar, Kandivli [West] in early 2020. He not only gave me a roof over my head, but also made arrangements for my food and finances. It is because of them [Chowdharys] that I managed to live in Mumbai, even during COVID,” he says.
Speaking about other parts of his Mumbai journey, he remarks, “my friends helped me pay the fee for my MCA card in 2018. I started playing for various clubs and got selected for the Mumbai under-23 camp in 2019.” He has since played in tournaments like the Kurla Bapat Shield, Shalini Bhalekar Trophy and Cosmopolitan Shield.
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December 18, 2022 will always be a significant day for Pahalwan. In a Cosmopolitan Shield match on that day at National Cricket Club, Cross Maidan, he smashed 145 in just 57 balls, including 13 fours and 12 sixes for Our Own Club, who beat Hind Sevak CC by 328 runs. In two matches of the 2019 Kurla Bapat Shield, he scored 82 runs (off 32 balls) and 50 runs (off 25 balls). He also took part in a local tournament at Air India ground in Kalina, where he performed in two games and was awarded the man of the match by chief guest Dhanraj Pillay, the ex-India hockey captain.
High praise
His coach Umesh Patwal waxes eloquent: “Pahalwan is an opener and wicketkeeper. He’s a raw lad who has the ability and solid learning capability,” said Patwal, who was coach of the Afghanistan national cricket team for 10 years apart from being head coach of the Nepal cricket team. Pahalwan played the recent MCA Corporate Trophy for Chowgule SC and his 61 helped beat Union Bank. He still has to break into the big league of Mumbai cricket, but watch out for this name. Ajit Pahalwan has all the right attributes to make it on a bigger stage.
