Ranji Trophy: Chandigarh's Raman Bishnoi eyes hat-trick of centuries at home turf

CHANDIGARH: From being bullied to bowl successive overs in school cricket, Raman Bishnoi has come a long way to produce consecutive centuries for Chandigarh in the Ranji Trophy. But the journey hasn't been a cakewalk of any sorts for this 22-year-old.
Born to a farmer father, Ripu Daman of Mehrana village in Punjab's Fazilka district, Raman started off as a replacement for his dad in the village's local cricket team. But his dreams of pursuing cricket as a career found many naysayers, who would taunt him by saying, "Cricket toh bade logo ke game hai, tujhse sirf paani mangwayega (Cricket is a game of the riches, you will only be fetching water bottles).
Raman opened up to TOI, on how his father overcame numerous financial and social obstacles to push his dreams of making his son a Ranji cricketer.
"Whatever I am today, it is all because of my father's sacrifices. Firstly he sacrificed his own spot in the village team for me, besides all the financial struggles our family had to face for my career. There were times when I hesitated to ask for a kit, but he would buy the best available kit from his savings," Raman said.
"There were times when I failed to score in consecutive matches but my father had that faith and belief in me. He would keep a track on each of my shots, and help me work on my mistakes."
Early Days
Raman was sent to the DAV, Sector 8 in Chandigarh in 2008, but there as a newcomer he was often asked to bowl instead of focusing on his batting. That, however, came as a blessing in disguise for the youngster, who developed his love for the art of left-arm spin.
Raman's left-arm spinners earned him rich dividend when he turned out for the Chandigarh district team during his Under-19 days. He ended up with 25 scalps, something which caught the attention of a number of cricket pundits in the city.
"Sometimes you need to take things by your stride, and you never know when you discover an art within yourself. Bowling consecutive overs in school cricket helped me fine-tune my skills with the ball although my focus has always been on scoring runs," he said.
Credit to coaches
Raman caught the attention of the UTCA selectors after his prolific performances at the Under-23 level for Chandigarh. He amassed more than 400 runs before being called up for the Ranji Trophy trials for BCCI's latest full members Chandigarh in 2019.
"For someone from a small village to make his mark in a city like Chandigarh, you always need the blessings of your mentors. In my case, Amit Uniyal (Under-23 coach) and VRV Singh (Chandigarh head coach) helped me a lot. It is for their backing that I could perform at this level," he said.
"During the Ranji trials, VRV sir would often tell me, 'there's not much of a difference in Ranji and Under-23 cricket, just go out and express yourself.' Even our captain Manan Vohra has backed me a lot on my debut, he used to walk up to me and ask me to play my natural game. I would also thank the UTCA for giving me the opportunity, without which I would be nothing today," added the youngster.
Love for alien conditions
In the two matches that Chandigarh played at the Sector 16 Stadium, Raman hardly got an opportunity to show his true potential. He made his debut against Arunachal Pradesh, against whom he did not get to bat, and against Bihar he was dismissed cheaply for 5.
With the UTCA side set to play their next couple of matches in far-away Northeast, Raman enjoyed the challenge, slamming a steady 126 against Meghalaya before taming Nagaland with a 83-ball 100.
"I love batting in unfamiliar conditions, where you don't have an idea of how the wicket behaves. I take my time to get myself in before taking on the bowlers. The century against Meghalaya was a more challenging one since they have quality bowlers. Meghalaya's Sanjay Yadav is an experienced bowler and I enjoyed the banter from Puneet Bisht (Meghalaya wicketkeeper), which I ignored."
"The second century came at a good pace and it was a great learning curve to batting alongside Manan. He is an experienced campaigner and his tips helped me a lot," he said.