G Force Tour Diary: Rajesh Ranpura, a cricketer turned coach’s Javed Miandad connection

By K.R. Nayar

Coach Rajesh Ranpura was born and brought up in a city called Palanpur which got mentioned in international cricket because of the legendary Pakistan batsman Javed Miandad’s connection. Miandad’s roots are from this city in the Indian state of Gujarat since his father, Miandad Noor Mohammad, worked in the Police Department here before he moved with his family to Karachi.

 

Rajesh Ranpura...on the target with speed and fitness 

Miandad was born in Karachi but his roots from this city has always got mentioned. Rajesh Ranpura,  grew up in this city always wanting to be a good cricketer. He owes his love towards cricket to his father Jagdish Chandra, who, though handicapped due to polio, was a keen lover of game and always encouraged him to wake up early morning  to follow India-Australia series in Australia in the early 90’s.

 

It wasn’t an easy path for Rajesh, who was one of the coaches in the G Force tour of Dehradun, to become a cricketer. Although tall and lanky, he had all the traits needed for a pacer and he bowled fast too. He was one among the two from over 1500 boys around the age of 14 to be selected for a residential training by the Sports Authority of India in Porbandar. The hostel they stayed was named after the legendary cricketer Duleepsinhji, on whose name is held India’s popular Duleep Trophy tournament. Though his parents were not very happy with him joining that session, his uncle backed him.

 

But when Rajesh’s father saw that there was a dip in his performance at school, he asked him to return to Palanpur and join school in Bhavnagar. From there Rajesh went on to play for Saurashtra Under-19 and even played in the Cooch Behar Under-19 trophy alongside players like Cheteshwar Pujara, Yusuf Pathan and Sheldon Jackson.

 

Rajesh Ranpura... the cricketer turned coach 

Rajesh, who is a right-arm fast medium pace bowler, recalls his dream start in Under-19 cricket. “It was my debut match in Rajkot against Mumbai and I got wickets with the first and second ball of my first over, which was the second over of the match! I bowled 21 overs and bagged three wickets.”  Since he was also focussing on his academics, Rajesh went to take a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry and a Masters in Computer Application, although he always cherished his dream of becoming an international cricketer one day. 

 

In 2007, he moved to Oman and quickly got included in the Muscat Cricket team and impressed everyone with his allround skills. In the A division cricket in Oman, he not only bowled brilliantly but as a No.8 batter he also even went on to emerge as the highest scorer.

 

Left-handed Rajesh proved that he is a fighter be it bowling or batting. “My consistent show got me a call into the training camps of the Oman National team. I went on to complete the mandatory waiting period of three and half years and qualified to play for Oman in international cricket.”

 

Rajesh realized his dream of playing international cricket when he got selected to play for Oman in the ICC World Cricket League in Hong Kong. On his debut match against Italy, he bagged three wickets. Pakistan’s former pacer Iqbal Sikandar, who is currently ICC’s Development Officer, had coached Oman and encouraged Rajesh, who finished as the second highest wicket taker in the ICC World Cricket League with 14 wickets from five matches.

  

Young Rajesh Ranpura 

Soon Rajesh became an automatic choice for Oman and he played in the T20 ACC Premier League held in Nepal. In this tournament, Oman needed four runs off the last ball against Malaysia to qualify for the T20 World Cup qualifiers. Rajesh emerged as the hero, hitting the winning boundary off the last ball to ensure his team travels for the T20 World Cup qualifiers in the UAE.

  

“In the UAE, I got to play against top nations like Ireland, UAE, Kenya, Italy, Denmark and Netherlands. I got to bowl against top players,” said Rajesh, who despite being a player, has also created a path to become a coach. “I did my ACC Level 1 coaching course in Oman and Level 2 coaching course in Lahore. My first coach Iqbal Sikandar had conducted these courses.”

 

Rajesh has been part of the G Force coaching team for three tours now– Chikhli, Rajkot and Dehradun. “It was in 2013 that I first met (G Force Head Coach) Gopal (Jasapara) sir. He was the manager of the UAE national team and I was playing for Oman. We met me every day at breakfast and talked about cricket. This relationship grew even after I went back to Oman. I have even come to Dubai and coached at G Force Academy for a short while.”

 

Thirty-nine-year-old Rajesh, who looks as fit as a cricketer, is today a freelance coach and lives in Ahmedabad with his wife Avani. During his Oman national team playing days, the practice sessions were in the morning from 4:30am and his family, including his wife and parents, supported him in every ways.”

 

As a hard-working coach, he has one advice to youngsters: “Whever you play the game, always give 100 percent and enjoy the game and always keep your nerves under control.”