Kamran bowled over by fans!

The 18-year-old boy who bowled out Bengal Tiger Sourav Ganguly with his ‘magical bowling’ during the Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders match and proved to be the ‘match winner’ in the super over of the IPL encounter,was himself bowled over by the welcome extended by fans on his maiden visit to his native village. For Kamran,the “showering of love” started soon after he landed in Varanasi to head towards his native village of Nadwa Sarai in Mau district. In his village,felicitation can only be called grand. Attended by hundreds of villagers,the venue had a special stage constructed for the occasion. The function was marked by shayari by the village youth.

Though he had expected that his journey from Varanasi to Nadwa Sarai would end in about two hours but it took him six hours to reach home. Kamran flanked by his coach Naushad Khan and cricketer friend Iqbal Abdulla stopped at many places to oblige the fans. He was overwhlemed when during a 8-km ‘roadshow’ from Ghonsi to Nadwa Sarai,his admirers,comprising mainly the youth,seemed desperate to shake hands with him. Kamran,Iqbal and Naushad stood on an open jeep which was escorted by the village youth on motor cycles and mediamen. People thronged the roads on both sides. As Kamran waved at them,they shouted “Kamran Khan,Mau ki shaan” and threw garlands at him. Talking to The Indian Express over phone during his road show Kamran said,“ I had never thought of getting so much love from the people. I and my entire family feel indebted to them. After hardships I have got happiness in plenty.” Regarding his stay at his home in Nadwa Sarai he informed that he had come there for about a week. “I was very eager to meet my family ever since I returned from South Africa. I am going to spend most of the time with my family and friends.”

When asked about his knee injury he said that he was recovering from it and it will take about two months for him to be fit again. He was full of praise for Rajasthan Royal captain Shane Warne. “Woh bahut achcha insaan hai. Hamesha hausla badhata hai. During the super over he smiled at me and told me,‘Smile Khan’.”

Kamran confided that he had brought clothes for the family members and gifts for his friends. “The gifts are all wrapped right now. I cannot tell what as the ‘secret’ would get leaked as too many people are surrounding me,” he explained in a polite tone.

Be it his elder brother Shamshad or his friends Shahid and Mustafa,all said that Kamran will do India proud one day. They seemed confident that Kamran would come out clean out of the “suspect bowling action” issue and would rise to greater heights.