Wicketkeeping as First Love, 350 kms journey, spending Nights at Stations: Abhiprai Biswas spreads his Wings with India U19 Selection | Exclusive

There are learnings in every story of success. If we are attentive enough, we often find them. For young Abhiprai, the learnings must be that sacrifice and hard work always bring success.

Bengal's promising wicketkeeper-batter Abhiprai Biswas earned his maiden India Under-19 call-up, with the Durgapur youngster selected for the two-match multi-day series against Australia Under-19 later this month.

The 18-year-old has been included in India's squad for the four-day fixtures, with Yashbardhan Chauhan named captain and Lakshya Raichandani his deputy. The first match will be played in Rajkot from September 27, followed by the second fixture in Ahmedabad from October 5. The selection was announced by the BCCI on August 27.

For Biswas, the call-up represents the culmination of years of extraordinary commitment. His cricketing journey began in Durgapur, but limited local facilities meant that he and his mother would regularly travel to Kolkata for training.

While speaking with MyKhel in an exclusive chat, the youngster revealed his mother's sacrifices along with his own.

Mother's devotion in Son's Journey

The mom and son duo had to catch early trains from Durgapur, and the round trip was around 350 kms. At weekends, the family would leave Durgapur by train, practise at a Salt Lake academy and return home late. When matches were scheduled, they sometimes travelled overnight, with Biswas even resting on railway-station platforms between journeys.

"I started my journey in Durgapur in my locality. I used to travel to Kolkata from home, and my mother was always with me, in those long travels. Whenever the match was, I used to come back home. Sometimes we used to spend our nights at stations to catch the early train back home."

Durgapur, in West Burdwan district of West Bengal, often gets chilly at night during winters. Early morning trains would have been far more difficult to catch. And then a journey of at least three hours via train and bus to reach the practice ground, well that's never easy. But Abhiprai habituated it in his early days. Even at the age of 12-13, he was mastering the trick of hard work with these long journeys. And his mother was always there as his shield.

His performances eventually began attracting attention at the Bengal age-group level. Biswas made his mark in district cricket for Burdwan before progressing through Bengal's junior teams.

He subsequently moved through the Under-23 and Under-19 setups and was a key player for Bengal in the Cooch Behar Trophy, where he scored more than 350 runs. Abhiprai scored an unbeaten 179 against Tamil Nadu during a practice tournament, and that was an important step in his career.

He produced a particularly strong run in the Vijay Merchant Trophy, scoring three consecutive hundreds against Goa, Haryana and Saurashtra after initially struggling in his first two matches.

'I enjoy Wicketkeeping; Wriddhiman Saha is my Idol' - Abhiprai Biswas

Abhiprai has learned his trade from Bengal legend and former India wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, whom he got a chance to work with during his Bengal T20 League stint with Rashmi Medinipur Wizards. But the youngster says he enjoys wicketkeeping even more than batting.

"I loved to keep wickets from the start. I started to love wicketkeeping more as I grew up. My idol is Wriddhiman Saha."

When asked about his learnings from Saha, Abhiprai points out the way the veteran uses his knowledge to alleviate doubts.

"Whenever I went to him with a doubt, Sir[Wriddhiman] managed to sort it out. I asked about many things to improve in my game, and he calmly resolved and coached me every time."

There was a brief difficulty in his budding career during the pandemic years, but his family has always been a pillar in his journey. Parents and grandparents have been immensely supportive, and they were ecstatic as the news broke of his inclusion in the India U19 team.

Abhiprai's achievement was also celebrated by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), which felicitated the youngster, with president Sourav Ganguly gifting him two bats in the presence of other CAB officials.

Although the U19 selection has been achieved, Abhiprai wants to reach loftier heights. His immediate focus is on the Australia series, and post that, the Durgapur boy hopes to grow in stature. In the tapestry of Indian cricket, success has always been kind to the ones who have worked the hardest, and safe to say, Abhiprai belongs to that category. The task now is to use the platform to showcase the magic!