Journalism of Courage
Chirag Khurana was a nervous wreck taking guard during his First-Class debut on November 17 last year. Gearing up to face India speedster Varun Aaron was a daunting prospect. My mind was filled with a plethora of emotions. It was a miracle that I managed to stand up straight to face the ball, he says. The first ball from India speedster flew past Khuranas bat and in his words,the butterflies in his stomach renewed their charge. In the next over,Khurana stood up straight and smashed the ball through the covers for a boundary. He has not looked back since.
That drive got me going. I met the ball in the middle of my bat and it was at that moment that I knew that I belonged to this level, he says. Khurana scored a sparkling century in debut for Maharashtra against Jharkhand and went on to pick three wickets to cap off a dream debut.
Khurana has had an unusually long initiation into First-Class cricket. The 19-year-old,who was born in Haryana moved to Pune with his Air Force officer father,travelled with the team for five years. Five years without playing a game would have dented a players confidence and caused doubts to creep in,but Khurana says that the up-side of five years as a passenger was greater than all the doubts and the frustrations. I would be lying if I said I was not frustrated. At times I felt like I would never get my chance,but I just kept believing in myself and finally I did play an important part for the team, he says. I had observed my teammates in action for so long that I didnt freeze when I finally got my chance.
The right-hander scored 539 runs in the five First-Class games he played,at an impressive average of 59.88. In addition,he scalped 10 wickets,courtesy his handy off-breaks. Khuranas two centuries,the second of which came in the semi-finals against Tamil Nadu,was instrumental in helping his side post a competitive total.
Khurana was recently feted by the Maharashtra Cricket Association as being the best senior player on the club circuit in the state. He says he is looking to add to this honour with a few more on the cricket field. He agrees the current season will be tough as they will be facing quality opposition from the first match,having made it out of the Plate division.
On his game-plan,he said,I am a front foot player. However,I try and play too many shots right at the beginning of my innings. I am working on pacing my innings better and learning to play to my strengths.
One thing that Khurana is desperate to do is to score more centuries this season. Last year I scored two hundreds when I could have easily scored five, he says,I got into the 80s on two occasions,but I just threw it away. This season I want to kick on and score big.
