Reclaiming my mother’s mortgaged gold chain, IPL top priorities: Sakibul Gani

Bihar cricketer Sakibul Gani, who created history by smashing a triple century in his debut appearance in a Ranji Trophy match against Mizoram in February, says that batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar’s tweet congratulating him for his performance gave a ‘big boost’ to his confidence.

BETTIAH: Bihar cricketer Sakibul Gani, who created history by smashing a triple century in his debut appearance in a Ranji Trophy match against Mizoram in February, says that batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar’s tweet congratulating him for his performance gave a ‘big boost’ to his confidence. The cricketer is now grooming himself to be part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the future.

Bihar cricketer Sakibul Gani. (HT Photo)

“Congratulations to Sakibul Gani for a solid performance in his debut Ranji Trophy match. Keep it up,” Tendulkar had tweeted, after the cricketer scored 341 runs off 405 balls against Mizoram in Kolkata on February 18.

On his return to his hometown Motihari in Bihar’s East Champaran district, Gani tells HT, “I am overwhelmed to have been praised by one of the greatest in the game.” Thank you, sir. Your word means a lot and is a huge motivation for me.”

Among his top priorities, Gani now wants to reclaim his mother’s mortgaged gold chain and has set his eyes on the next edition of the IPL.

With an eye on the IPL, he has adhered to rigorous practice sessions to improvise his game further so as to become a 360 degree player with the bat and a useful contributor with bowling and fielding. “In today’s competitive cricket, we need to have the ability to play shots all around the ground and adapt as per the situation,” says Gani, who played at number 5 in his Ranji Trophy matches and took four wickets in his last encounter against Arunanchal Pradesh.

Youngest among his six siblings, three of them sisters, Gani’s mother Asma Khatoon had to mortgage her gold chain to buy three cricket bats after he got selected for Ranji Trophy. “Reclaiming this gold chain is on my mind. Waiting for my fees...,” says the cricketer, whose father, Mohammad Mannan Gani, runs a sports goods shop.

Gaini attributes his success to his brother and mentor Faisal Gani who runs a cricket coaching academy. “I never felt the need to go to bigger places to hone my cricketing skills...,” says Gaini. He described himself as a fan of former Indian opener Virender Sehwag. “What started sheer for enjoyment, the game of cricket became a reason of my very being when I was in Class IV,” says Gaini, adding he like any other child was under parental pressure to take his studies seriously.

Yet, Gaini had to keep postponing appearing for the intermediate examination for the last four years. “It’s largely because of Col CK Nayudu Trophy (for men’s Under-23) coinciding with the intermediate examination,” says the cricketer.