Abhimanyu eyes glory and an India cap

In some countries, Abhimanyu may have done enough to already secure at least a Test spot. The runs are flowing, confidence is at an all-time high. Already 27, he must be faced with an obvious question: If not now, when? But he has a completely different take. “It’s competition only if you look at it that way,” says Abhimanyu.

“India are playing well because they have the bench strength right now. That wasn’t the case at one point of time. If five players are injured then they can be replaced with five players of similar ability but slightly less experience. This is how cricket improves. And I completely understand. Which is why if I make a hundred, I think of how to score a double. That is what Virat (Kohli) bhai told me,”

Ask around. Be it in the Bengal dressing room or in India, Abhimanyu has done that a lot. Get as much information as possible, then curate it to suit his style— Abhimanyu is an expert at customising advice. Like how he tries to pick the brains of Manoj Tiwary in his quest to play spin better. “I learnt a lot from Manoj bhaiyya. I think he is one of the best players of spin. Just being able to practice with him when I was young was very enlightening. Even today I ask him how he plays spin, because you want to get those performances for Bengal.”

Another influential figure was Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who was almost a guardian to an 18-year-old Abhimanyu during his debut Ranji season in 2013, often warding off journalists saying, “Leave him alone. He is young, just let him play.” “He is a fighter,” says Abhimanyu of Shukla, who is now the Bengal coach. “And he brought that spirit to his game. I wanted to play like that too. His confidence, at that juncture of my career, was very uplifting.”

Stints with the A sides meant a lot of face time with Rahul Dravid till Abhimanyu was picked for the tour of England in 2021. This is where the interactions went up a notch, especially because the entire squad was quarantining in a hotel. Abhimanyu did what he does best—ask. “I try to understand what different players do before the tour. Like with Virat bhai, how his preparation for a Test series begins much before landing there.” Abhimanyu makes sure not to miss out on any point while making copious mental notes. “Sab kuch sab ko suit nahi karta. (Not everything is suited to everyone). But I make it a point to ask,” he says.

Some advice here, a suggestion there, Abhimanyu has put everything to use over the years, scoring not just big first innings hundreds but also dogged fourth-innings runs on dust bowls. A very early glimpse of his skill and tenacity came in the 2015-16 season, on a minefield of a pitch in Kalyani against Odisha. The match finished within two days, prompting a rare public reprimand of the pitch from Dravid who was heading the NCA and U-19 teams then. Abhimanyu, then just 20, scored 88 and 39 in both innings, the two highest individual scores of that match. “It was one of the most special games in my life,” he says.

On a pitch where survival—forget scoring—became sole agenda, Abhimanyu thrived only due to his technique. Very early he had understood that if he could sort the technical part of cricket, scoring was just a matter of time. “I felt when I came to Ranji Trophy I had the technique. But batting well doesn’t mean scoring well at times. I got runs when I was young but I wasn’t as successful on different pitches at that level. That changed when I met (personal coach) Apoorva Desai. He helped me plan for different bowlers, read and adapt to wickets. “It was about finding out different ways to score,” he says.

Head still, always on top of the ball, balanced follow-through—these technical perfections have been chiselled into Abhimanyu through countless games at clubs, grade cricket, state level and even abroad. But it all began at Dehradun when he wasn’t even born.

Add Ranganathan Parameswaran to the long list of ardent, overzealous fathers who have devoted entire lives to ensuring nothing comes between their sons and playing cricket at the highest level. He opened a cricket academy in 1988, seven years before his son was born, named it Abhimanyu Cricket Academy before building a stadium in 1998 that is now the centre of a bustling ecosystem where the BCCI schedules round-the-year domestic cricket. All in the hope that his son would take up the game the way he wanted to.

Abhimanyu took him by surprise there as well. “I think he was in class 2 when Abhimanyu came back from school and announced he wouldn’t go to school anymore,” he says. “My wife was crestfallen. Abhimanyu told her, ‘If I have to play India I can’t do that by training for just two hours. I won’t go to school. Simple.’ She was livid with me. That’s when I installed generator-backed floodlights, so that he could train at night as well.”

Few years into this madness, Abhimanyu’s father realised he had to leave Dehradun if they were serious about his career. “Uttarakhand didn’t have affiliation. Kolkata had many tournaments under the CAB. The selection had a process to it, unlike in many other states,” says Abhimanyu, fiddling with his phone. “Leaving home wasn’t so tough for me. I knew I was going to play cricket, which is something I enjoy the most. I think it was difficult for my family, my mom and sister for sure. Not my father I think. I came to Bongaon (around 80km from Kolkata) to live with my coach Nirmal Sengupta, practising, coming back for lunch, again practising in the evening, then playing games five days a week, even seven days at times. I was enjoying my time. I was getting to play.”

Add to this six hours of commute to and fro from Bongaon and the numerous stints around the country. Abhimanyu’s cricket was played on centre wickets and around the edges—in Kolkata today, Delhi tomorrow, Nagpur the day after and then to Dehradun, only to come back to Kolkata and start once again. All in a week.

“Sometimes I felt yaar bahut ho gaya (this is too much) but I think I was too young to understand,” he says. “He (pointing towards his father) was ahead with his thinking.” And then he explains. “You know, it’s all about the soil. The wickets in Kolkata are slower and different from Nagpur where you have bounce because of red soil. Delhi, on the other hand, has skiddy wickets. It was actually a preparation to adjust to different wickets, all when I was 12 or 13.” In between, he would also go abroad for quick tours. By the time Abhimanyu had made his first-class debut, he had already toured Australia, England, South Africa, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

This doesn’t account for the personal preparation, which stretched to painstaking lengths at times. “Rajdeep Kalsi (his first coach) and Nirmal Sengupta used to arrange for bowlers,” says Abhimanyu’s father. “But then yeh maharaj alag se phone karte with his demands: Do right-arm pacers chahiye, do left-arm pacers chahiye, ek left-arm spinner chahiye. Five boys travelled 2AC to be his practice bowlers. He used to face them every night, from 7 to 11pm.” The idea was clear: “Ghaat ghaat ka paani peena hai.”

It was an attitude that held Abhimanyu in good stead, particularly during the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy season where he ended with 861 runs, the fourth-highest from Elite Group teams. He backed that with a phenomenal average of 95.66 and three centuries. Against Hyderabad came 186 out of a first-innings total of 336 where Easwaran was the ninth wicket to fall. He then scored an unbeaten 183 against Delhi in the fourth innings, anchoring a stupendous seven-wicket win chasing 323.

Finally came his first double hundred, an unbeaten 201 against Punjab that allowed Bengal to draw after conceding a 260-run first-innings lead. He bettered that score within months, this time slamming 233 against Sri Lanka A in an innings win. His current season has seen a similar trajectory—starting with a fine 122 against Services in List A, followed by 141 and 157 in Bangladesh, coming back to Ranji Trophy where he scored three hundreds on three remarkably different tracks.

In between he was called to join the Test squad in Bangladesh, a routine he is getting used to now. But he doesn't read too much into his career or what it could be. In a country boasting multiple opening options beyond the usual names, Abhimanyu only wants to do his job and leave the rest to destiny. Right now, only the Ranji Trophy matters.

“It’s been a good journey you know,” he says. “From staying in Dehradun and thinking yaar ab aage kya karna hai to coming to a state like Bengal where players perform and get chances, has been special. It’s a really proud feeling, being part of this bunch and leading them (he was the captain before being called away on national duty). It’s important we go the distance this time.

“And if I do, maybe it will make the selectors think again and probably they might just give me a go at Test level. That’s all I can do. Can’t spend much energy on selection. Winning the Ranji Trophy is the most important aim.”