LUCKNOW, July 26 -- Call it destiny or something else, but for Sarwar Nawab, it's now a total new world of his cricket coaching at the PAC Ground in Barabanki. In the last year or so, the number of cricketers at his academy grew to over 150 and the numbers are growing each passing day. The reason for this amazing growth is the success of young all-rounder Vipraj Nigam, who in his debut season in the cash-rich Indian Premier League, impressed everyone both with his batting and bowling, especially leg spin. While playing for Delhi Capitals, Nigam not only took 11 wickets in 14 matches, but also scored 142 runs, including a match-winning 39. Nigam belongs to the cricket academy of Sarwar Nawab and is being viewed as the biggest inspiration not only for his co-trainees at the academy but also for every young cricketer in Barabanki, which is situated around 28 km from Lucknow. "Things have changed drastically in the number of trainees at my academy. In fact, Nigam's success has ignited new hopes among the young cricketers of the area and now everyone wants to become an all-rounder like him," said Sarwar Nawab on Friday. "I was almost surprised when I started getting phone calls for admission in my academy since Nigam's name figured prominently in the IPL. His success with both ball and bat at the second edition of the UPTwenty20 League also drew a lot of attention from cricketers in my academy," said Nawab, 58. A former inmate and all-rounder of his time at the state government-run Guru Gobind Singh Sports College here in Lucknow, Nawab himself wanted to play at the top level, but he could play up to the university level and for survival he became an ad hoc coach at the KD Singh 'Babu' Stadium in Barabanki. "Being a small town, Barabanki didn't have a good number of cricketers during my coaching days at the stadium, and after serving a few years, I chose to start my own academy, almost eight km away from Barabanki," recalled Nawab, adding, "I didn't know that one day Nigam's success will change my fortunes." He, however, praised Nigam for his consistent showing in all formats of the game. "He (Nigam) has got a different class in the game and his attacking approach both in batting and bowling has made him special. I am sure that soon he will get Team India's call," the coach said. He also recalled the day when an eight-year-old Nigam walked to his academy for training. "In fact, his father brought him to me and told me (Sir, mujhe cricket ki jaankari nahi hai. Ye aaj se aapki amanat hai - ye aapka Arjun aur aap iske Dronacharya). I don't have any knowledge about cricket, he is all yours. He is your student and you are his teacher." An impressed Nawab walked up to Vipraj's father and said, "Aap jaiye, aaj se main isse sambhal lunga (You can go home, I will take care of him)." "The sacrifices made by his family in the progress of Nigam can't be ignored as everyone in his family, especially father Vijay Nigam, a school teacher, did his best to make his son a good cricketer. His mother and grandfather used to travel over 30 km every day in shared autos and rickshaws, braving the scorching summer heat and bone-chilling winter fog just to deliver tiffin to Vipraj at the academy," said Nawab. "In fact, on the first of his training at the academy here, Nigam missed a few deliveries, but the ones he connected with soared like rockets. I am not saying this because he is now playing IPL, but he is one of those god-gifted cricketers. He never goes overboard, never gets excited. He will take a wicket and will automatically come back to the initial point where he started," he added. "He has a tendency for forgetting successes, moving on, and learning from his mistakes," said Nawab. "Since we had seen his talent from the beginning, we got him to appear for UPCA trials the following year, and he got selected for the UPCA U-14 team. He moved to Under-16. But his impact in the U-16 wasn't great. Sometimes he would get dropped at the zonal level, and when he went up, he became overage," he said. Nawab also recalled how Nigam became a bowler of class. During the U-19 trials for Uttar Pradesh in 2022, the nets were overflowing with aspiring batters. Vipraj was among them, patiently waiting for his turn. Watching the long line of batters, Utkarsh Chandra, then U-19 selector for UP, needed bowlers to test them. "Stepping outside the nets, he called out, "Kisi ko keeda hai bowling karne ka to batao?" (If anyone wants to bowl, speak up!). Vipraj raised his hand and that spontaneous decision turned out to be a game-changer. The rest, as they say, is history."...