Fan of India’s Sunil is taxi-driver father of West Indian Narine

When the Narines realised that their second-born would be a son,there was no discussion regarding his name. In fact,Shahid,a fanatical supporter of Gavaskar,had vowed to name his child after his hero when watching the batsman overcome the might of the West Indian pace attack at the Queens Park Oval decades ago.

Gavaskar’s son Rohan,incidentally,is named after West Indian batting legend Rohan Kanhai.

“If left to me,I would have named him Sunil too,” says Shahid,pointing at his four-year-old grandson Jeremy. While the former taxi driver’s ultimate dream of meeting his idol never quite materialised,he insists on having experienced a sense of closure last year when his son Sunil achieved what he couldn’t.

“I still get goosebumps when I recall Gavaskar asking Sunil about his name and when he found out that my son was actually named after him,on live television. I had twice chickened out from sharing a greeting with Gavaskar during his playing days. This though,was out of this world,” adds Shahid.

That meeting between the namesakes had occurred during the 2012 IPL,when Narine picked up the man-of-the-tournament award while playing an integral role in Kolkata Knight Riders’ title triumph. His exploits turned the Narines into the most popular family in the whole of Arima.

Despite the IPL riches,the Narines still live in the same two-room house that Shahid bought a dozen years ago after years of hardship. For close to three decades,he had gone around doing odd-jobs,from working in restaurants to driving a taxi – a rickety sedan he still uses. Once he saw his son’s talent,he put everything into helping Sunil fulfill his destiny.

“In fact,his first pads I purchased were very old and they would tear off at the corners,and we had to get them stitched every week. My mother,who passed away in May,bought Sunil his first bat with her pension savings,” he recalls.

Although Shahid dreamt of having a son who could play cricket,he never had to force Sunil to pick up a cricket bat. “He was more passionate about the sport than I was. He was never great at academics. We would put him into some tuition because his mother wanted him to do well in school,but then realised that he never went to school and was instead at the Savannah playing cricket,” says Shahid.

Sunil soon started making waves,mainly with his batting at the junior levels,and before long was captaining the U-19 Trinidad team. “The boy would practice shots with whatever you gave him,from tooth-brush to a pen,” recalls his mother. It was Shahid who coached him to start with,even teaching him the now famous ‘knuckle ball’. He also dissuaded his son from continuing as a fast bowler after it started affecting his back.

“There had never been an East Indian fast bowler for a reason. We aren’t built to bowl pace. I convinced him to turn to spin,” he recalls.

Then in 2012,after an impressive Champions League,KKR came calling and the rest is history.

“He called me at 3 am and started screaming that he had been bought in the auction. I asked him to go back to sleep and stop dreaming. That’s the only time in Sunil’s life that I’ve heard him so excited,” says Christina. There was double the joy in the Narine household,as Kevon Cooper,who lives down the road,also got an IPL contract.

“I have always maintained that I have two sons,one brown and one black and Coops is a great boy and the two have grown up together,” she adds.

IPL glory aside,test cricket was still the real deal for the Narines. “You have a son playing for the West Indies. What else could you want from life,” says Shahid,welling up.

Shahid is retired now but hasn’t given up on his ultimate dream,insisting that he will one day shake hands with Gavaskar while humming “the real master,like a wall,the West Indies couldn’t get him out at all”.