A son of ‘Shiksha Mitr’ (Primary Teacher) who earned around Rs 12,000 per month, 20-year-old Prashant Veer was picked for Rs 14.20 crore by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Indian Premier League’s mini-auction on Tuesday. Veer wasn’t expecting too much, and like any uncapped player, he hoped someone in the auction room would merely raise the paddle for him.
“I was just hoping that someone would raise their paddle, it took me some time to process that I have gone to CSK for 14 crores. Sapna lag raha tha sab, I told Rinku (Singh) bhai ke pinch karo ek baar. My family has not seen so much money in their life, this will change things for good. What I will do with the money, yeh sochney ka kaam gharwalon ka hai, mera nahi,” he told The Indian Express. (It felt like a dream to be picked by CSK. I told Rinku to pinch me. My family will decide what to do with the money. God heard my prayers.)
Divine intervention or not, CSK needed to fill the gap left by Ravindra Jadeja, and Veer, a left handed batsman and left arm spinner, was almost a like for like replacement, as the franchise looks to rejuvenate its squad.
“I always wanted to play for CSK especially under MS Dhoni. He too bats lower down the order like me, I had wished that whenever auction happens, I should go to CSK. Bhagwan ne lagta hai sun liya,” Prashant added.
Prashant Veer with his family (Image via special arrangement)
For a boy from a small village Shahjipur, 13 kilometers from Amethi, it was not an easy ride. He didn’t take the traditional route of travelling to Lucknow or Kanpur. Instead, seven years ago, he decided to travel to Saharanpur to play his cricket. His childhood coach Rajiv Goyal recalls how his student Rakshit Garg called him to inform that one boy was willing to come here and play cricket in Saharanpur.
“He must have been 15 years old, Prashant and Garg were in the same hostel in Mainpuri but cricket wasn’t as competitive as he expected there,” Goyal recalls. Garg asked Prashant to compare their hostel coaching. “Both landed in my academy. The way he was timing the ball, you can see there was something different in him. I took him to my old house where other players used to stay. Since then he’s trained there,” Goyal recalled.
Cricket threw another challenge at him financially. Prashant’s late grandfather Suryakumar Tripathi was taking care of Prashant’s cricketing dream with his pension. His father was earning a mere 8,000 rupees from teaching then. “When his grandfather died, he said, sir ab mera cricket khatam. I told him you play here, I will manage whatever I can. And then we took help of Akram Saifi, who is chairman of Saharanpur District Cricket Association, he took care of him later on,” Goyal said.
Despite clearing all selection trials, Prashant didn’t see his name in Uttar Pradesh’s Under 16 squad. He was desparate but his coach was clear that he needs to work harder. Prashant urged Goyal to try get him to play in Chandigarh. He got admission in a college in Jalandhar and continued to play junior cricket. Later, he was picked for UP’s Under 19 team and since then he hasn’t looked back.
Prashant Veer with his coach Rajeev Goyal. (Image via Special Arrangement)
“My financial condition was not good but I got people who were ready to help me. Be it my grandfather, then Tappu sir (Rajiv Goyal) and later Akram sir, they all said, tu bas cricket khel, baaki chinta mat kar,” Prashant remembers.
A Yuvraj Singh fan, who wears the jersey number 12 just like the former Indian batsman, he was named as ‘Miller’ back in UPCA’s Green Park academy.
“In Green Park’s (Kanpur) Hostel I used to have a green jersey which resembled the South Africa jersey. There was one coach Sunil Sir, he used to call me (David) Miller, tab se Miller naam pad gayaa,” he narrates.
Prashant is known to be wise with money.
“When he got money from Under 19 and UP T20 league, he opened a small transport business for his father. He bought land and did small changes back home. Money won’t change him, he understands the value of it. I had never spoken to his father, today was the first day, he called and said thank you.”
The coach reckons Prashant has a long way to go, though his talent was recognised earlier too. “I feel Prashant has a long way to go and world will see him doing better. I remember in one game in Chandigarh he slammed nine sixes and 11 fours, Chandigarh guys told me ki yeh ladke hamein de do, I said pehle bheje toh liye nahi. (Chandigarh asked him to shift, I told them when we approached you earlier, you were not keen). He is the first one to be at the ground and last to leave, his ethics separate him from others,” Goyal added.
A few weeks ago Veer had a crazy itinerary as he was travelling between games for UP-under 23 team and UP team for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Mumbai to Kolkata, back to Mumbai, back to Kolkata, then once more to Mumbai before returning to Kolkata – a blur of airports, taxis and hotel corridors stitched together by matches where he was expected to perform. For Veer it was a stress test and going ahead, he will be tested again, though he will have Dhoni to help him navigate those turns.
For a boy from a small village Shahjipur, 13 kilometers from Amethi, it was not an easy ride. (Photo Credit: UPT20League) 
Prashant Veer with his family (Image via special arrangement)
Prashant Veer with his coach Rajeev Goyal. (Image via Special Arrangement)
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