Maharashtra’s bowling mainstay

Fallah,born in Hyderabad,shifted to Pune with his parents when he was four. He never played age-group cricket for Maharashtra and when he was rejected during an U-19 selection trial for the state team,he thought that cricket had no future for him. “I played tennis ball cricket and some of my friends forced me to go for the U-19 trials. They told me I was a good bowler and the selectors would definitely pick me. I was rejected on the first day and I just lost it,” he says. “I slipped into depression. My father owns a hotel and he said I better start helping him out there. However,I just couldn’t concentrate on anything. I thought my life was over.”

In 2006,Samad Fallah’s friends persuaded him to play a one-off Poona District Cricket Association league game. Fallah scalped all ten wickets in the first innings and this spurred him on to give the MCA Invitational league a shot. “I played the Invitational without any expectations. I just bowled where my heart told me to bowl. I picked up 72 wickets in the nine games I played and I was called up to the Ranji team the following week,” says Fallah.

Maharashtra in the 2007-08 season had the services of Munaf Patel and Fallah was expected to warm the bench. “I kept on telling Munaf bhai that if I was given one chance,I would go and grab five wickets in the match. He just laughed it off and told me to calm down,” he says. However,three games into the season,Munaf was picked for the Indian team and Fallah made his debut against Himachal Pradesh in Dharamshala.

“I just wanted to play one Ranji match,that was my goal. When I was picked,I was overjoyed,” he says. Fallah made sure that Maharashtra did not miss the services of Munaf Patel. In the first innings,he picked up two wickets. In the second he went one better and snapped up six wickets for just 49 runs.

“Even before I walked out to bowl,I knew I was going to do well. People call it arrogance but I just knew that this kind of cricket was my thing. I knew,when the moment came,I wouldn’t disappoint,” says Samad. The left-armer picked up 20 wickets in the season,playing just five matches.

In his second season,Fallah was devastating,picking up four consecutive five-wicket hauls and finishing the season with 35 wickets. Since then,Fallah has been the mainstay of Maharashtra’s bowling attack.

Now,in his fifth season,the pacer has never taken less than 20 wickets in any of his previous four seasons. He is also tied with Kapil Dev as the fastest bowler to reach 100 first-class wickets,getting to the milestone in only his 20th match.

However,his exploits on the domestic circuit have not led to bigger gains for the 27-year-old. “I have never been picked for an India A side,and I have played the Challenger trophy only once. I have often thought,what am I doing wrong but I guess my job is to just take wickets and some day the selectors will reward my hard work.” he says. Fallah says that he has followed a piece of advice that former Maharashtra Ranji coach Shaun Williams gave him.

“Shaun told me to just keep on filling buckets with wickets. Some people get a straight road to the top while others have to take a winding route. I want to get into the Indian team on the weight of my performances and not just because I am a talented lad,” he says.

Fallah is enthused by what Maharashtra can do in the upcoming Ranji Trophy season. “We have a great bunch of guys. We are fighters and the spirit in the team is incredible. We are a settled bunch and even though we have a tough group I believe that if we win our first game against Uttar Pradesh it will give us an incredible momentum. It’s always better to face tough teams early in the tournament,” he says.

Fallah says that playing cricket,be it at Golibar Maidan with his childhood friends or in stadiums representing his state,is his life. “You tell me to run five laps and I won’t be able to do it. However,you tell me to bowl 20 overs on a trot and I will be more than happy to do that. Playing cricket is non-negotiable for me,” he signs off.