Pravin Tambe - The fading star who stuck by his dreams

When we talk about a star born in the field of sports, we usually refer to a ‘youngster’. We usually say, a ‘star is in the making’ or ‘a youngster has risen to the occasion’. But after the recently concluded CLT20, we may have to change our common opinion and thinking. And the credit for this must be given to one person who has forced us to make a change in our perception. He is none other than Rajasthan Royals most underrated performer, PRAVIN TAMBE.

His impressive performance with the bowl in the Champions League T20 has made a very strong statement in the sporting arena that ‘age is just a number’ and it should not be given much importance. He has proved that ‘age doesn’t matter and there is no certain age to perform for a team’. Performance comes from the passion within and age should not be used as a measure to judge someone’s ability to deliver the goods for the team especially when chips are down.

Pravin Tambe, 41, performed his heart out in the fifth edition of the CLT20 and single handedly led his team to the finals of the league. This tournament proved to be an important landmark in his struggling career. The Mumbaikar was constantly warming the bench for his state team in the Ranji Trophy and was always overlooked by the selectors because of the presence of quality spinners in the Maharashtra line-up.

But he accepted his struggle as a passing phase and was ready to be a part of the team. Passion and commitment has been an essential resource for this man and he has always stuck by them. He displayed his skills efficiently for the Rajasthan Royals team and left everyone awe-struck with his economical bowling and sharp fielding skills. People were bewildered to see his fitness level and energy on the field for the team.

He played not to prove anyone wrong, but to show the people that his time had finally arrived. He had nothing to lose and this transformed his game drastically as he played with a lot of courage and pride on the field. He never disappointed his skipper and whenever he was trusted with the ball, he provided the vital breakthroughs for his team.

He knew his role was that of a frontline spinner in the lineup and he was given full freedom to explore his ideas. He gave no liberty to the batsmen in his bowling and did not allow them to free their arms against his wicket-to-wicket bowling. He was not even shy to show his emotions on the field and had quite a few tricks up his sleeve to deceive the batsmen. His ability to restrict most of the attacking batsmen in a twenty20 format was commendable and spoke volumes about him of being an ace performer.

In a twenty20 game, no one expects a bowler to concede only 10-12 runs in his quota of four overs. To be very honest, not even a bowler expects such a thing from himself. But Tambe performed as a man on a mission. His figure of 4-0-10-3 in the semifinal of the tournament against a star-studded Chennai Super Kings batting lineup was impeccable.

He carried on his rich form with the bowl in the finals against Mumbai Indians as he gave away only 12 runs in the scoreboard of Mumbai during his four over spell. When all the bowlers were being hammered by the Mumbai Indians batsmen, he stood as a star performer for his team and stopped one of the most attacking batsmen, like Dwayne Smith and Rohit Sharma, to get the better of them in the summit clash.

He was the captain’s crisis man as he seldom went for runs in his bowling and gave away only half-a-dozen boundaries in the whole tournament. This is an incredible feat for a bowler in the shortest format of the game. His success has proved to be like a script writer’s imagination. His lethal display won him accolades not only from his teammates, but also from the commentators and opponents.

Rahul Dravid stated: “It goes down to the number of hours he has put in. He has bowled in all situations for over two decades now and has got immense control in his bowling.”

The most striking feature about him is his willingness to learn and keep performing for the team at such an age. His success goes to show that he still wants to play the game and wants to keep performing for his side. He may not earn a place in the national side because of his age, but he has shown that he has the hunger to perform in him much like a youngster. He may look 41 but has the temperament of a 19 year old youngster.

He had robust conversations with Rahul Dravid, Shane Watson and Brad Hodge before the start of the match and always wanted to improve his game and gain the most of being a part of a team which consisted of elite players from around the globe. He used to practice religiously in the nets and was ready to perform out of his skin for the team’s cause. Frustration can easily creep into the mind of a player who has not represented his national team for so long and he may easily hang up his shoes, but Pravin Tambe has been a revelation and a true fighter.

He didn’t let his age, frustration of not being selected for Team India disturb him at any course of time. His attitude showed that he was eager to play, perform and keep serving the game of cricket. Coach, Paddy Upton, was all praise for the bowler’s emergence as a top class performer and quoted: “Indeed where was Pravin Tambe. He didn’t even get many matches for the Royals in the Indian Premier League, but still he prepared consistently. He had the skill, and now he also has the ability to read the batsmen. He can strategize accordingly.”

For a player who knows that he may not get a chance to feature in the playing eleven of the Indian Cricket team (because of his age and fierce competition) and still perform so selflessly for a franchise team, is worth applauding. Credit goes to the people who believed in him and gave him a chance to prove his credentials as a quality bowler.

On the other hand, he should be lauded for the energy and charisma shown by him to perform for a club-level team at fag end of his career. He accepted the role entrusted to him by the team members and was in no mood to throw this opportunity. He had waited for a long time and he knew that time was finally on his side now.

He wanted to make this tournament his own and he did it with flying colors. He won the golden wicket award for being the leading wicket taker in the tournament (12 wickets) and for not allowing a heavy flow of runs from the willow of attacking batsmen like Suresh Raina, M.S. Dhoni, Keiron Pollard, Rohit Sharma and many more.

His story proves that “success will come to you if you wait for the right moment and grab it with both hands. It will be yours if you are ready to strive for it and fight till the very end. One needs to believe in his/her dream and stick to it till the time we don’t achieve it.”

Pravin Tambe, not the ‘rising star’ but the ‘fading star, young at heart, taught us a valuable lesson from his success story.