Boy wonder turns Batman

“Yaad nahi hai kitna mara (I don’t remember my scores exactly). I just like to bat,my father takes note of each of my innings,the scores and the shots. You will have to ask him,” says the 15-year-old school cricket behemoth. There was a time the young Armaan turned eyes whenever he stepped onto the field because of his famous surname and his resemblance to uncle Wasim Jaffer. Not anymore. Such has been his incredible consistency with the bat that the Rizvi student is the cynosure in every team he represents,regardless of school,state of club. Like he was while scoring 295 runs for MCA Colts in the Talyarkhan tournament and ending up with the best batsman award at the Parsee Gymkhana recently.

The next big thing from Mumbai tag hasn’t taken too long to be bestowed upon him either. For starters,let’s just take a look at his almost preposterous run of scores over the last few months.

Armaan started off with scoring 1062 runs for the Mumbai U-16 team in the Vijay Merchant Trophy ,including 290 in the final at Delhi. He then returned to the city,padded up for his school Rizvi,and smashed a 473 in the Harris Shield final against IES VN Sule. That is after he had walked in with his team’s score reading 30/6 and smashed 263 in the semifinal. The incredible thing about Armaan is that this is in no way a watershed season for him. It’s just a continuation of his prolific run-making over the last few years.

“I had a good season,in fact better than the previous year. It is not the end,I need to carry on this form for long. Will have to do more hard work. My aim is to score a place in the Mumbai under-19 side,” said Armaan,who will be heading for the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore.

Having bullied bowling attacks all over the country at the junior level,Armaan’s next big step will be at the senior level. And he’s as anxious as everyone around him to see whether he will be as prolific at the next stage of his still nascent cricket career.

The right-hander did provide some insight into his potential in terms of taking the step up with scores of 127 not out,95 and 76 against bowlers more than half his age and size. In his first outing against the men,the boy from Bandra stood toe to toe with them and displayed that he was no less than them. The first hurdle has been crossed quite comprehensively.

“This tournament has given me the confidence that I can do well against the senior teams too. At the same time,I can’t afford to get complacent as the real task will start from next season,” he added.

While accumulating runs has never been a tough task for Armaan,the youngster was developing a sense of monotony in terms of his style. Though his copybook technique has won him a lot of plaudits,Armaan was found out when it came to clearing the fence in the shorter formats. And there was a sense of desperation that was creeping into his cricket in terms of upgrading himself and developing this crucial facet of his game. Father Kalim,never one to shy away from a challenge,too had realized that to cope with the requirements of present-day cricket,his son did require the skills of six-hitting too. Even if it meant,thinking out of the box.

“Last year,I used to have more grounded shots. My father told me that if I needed to upgrade myself then I should play more lofted shots. It will give me more scoring options,” Jaffer explained. As usual,what that meant was a never-ending series of endless nets sessions with the senior Jaffer to ensure that the usage of the long-handle was implemented into his technique. And Armaan’s new skills were tested out during practice matches. But as always there is a lot of method to the perceived madness.

“Now if the fielders are closing in,then I try to score by hitting the ball over his head. It’s natural that after a couple of boundaries,the fielders will be pushed back. Then I can try to score easy singles,milk the bowling and with this will lessen the pressure on me,” he said.

Just like with his batting,Armaan is in no hurry to push himself beyond where he’s reached in his career already. He doesn’t want to jump the gun either in terms of predicting his immediate future,and is happy to wait for the next season where he will take a major stride towards taking his game to the next level.

“I’m not thinking too much,things will happen when they have to happen. The U-19 team is my sole focus and what I’m going to do is practice more and give it my best shot. This has been a great season but I’m now looking forward to the next,” he said,putting in another vain attempt to recall the exact number of centuries he’s notched up in what has been another sensational year for Armaan.

Armaan stats this season

Scored 1062 runs for Mumbai under 16 side including 290 in the Vijay Merchant final.

Awarded man of the tournament in Coca-Cola Cup after scoring 160 runs and taking eight wickets.

Scored 473 in Harris Shield final and also slammed 278 in semis.

Awarded Best Batsman in recently concluded Talyarkhan tournament for his 295 runs.