A village keeps awake to cheer home-boy Mulla

As soon as the 26-year-old reached his 50, Mulla’s phone started buzzing. “I also have a brother in London. He called me up just as he reached his 50,” Mulla said. Ashif completed his maiden fifty in international cricket by square cutting to four. And this time, it was another Indian at the receiving end of the treatment, Ravinder Singh Bopara.

“In the last match, he made 25 against Kenya. So there was a lot of excitement among people here even before the start of the match. We all knew about his potential. We just wanted him to play. He ended up on the losing side, but his innings made up for all disappointments.

Canada’s campaign in the World Cup may last only till their match against New Zealand on Thursday, but some memories will live much longer,” said Mulla.

Ashif’s schoolfriend Imtiaz Rawat also watched the innings. “It was a great feeling to see someone you had played with at the international level. He was my senior in school. But last year in January, when he had come here, we played together at Bharuch in some local games sponsored by a Canadian company,” Imtiaz said.

Before migrating to Canada with his family in 1999, Ashif played cricket for Gujarat.

He represented Gujarat under-16 and under-19 teams at various all-India inter-state tournaments. He also played for his school, DK Tata High School, at national-level meets.