Mountain of runs from Arnav

If the West Indian cricketers of the 80s and early 90s call someone a prodigy, that too someone as young as nine, then the world must take notice of that talent. Not one but two West Indian cricketers have called Dubai-based Arnav Hemant Kambli a cricketing wonder.

First Jimmy Adams and then Desmond Haynes called Arnav a special talent. "(Desmond) Haynes adviced us that we must let him play cricket even if he doesn't score runs because he (Arnav) is born for cricket," the 13-year-old Ryan International School pupil's proud mother Preeti Kambli told Khaleej Times on Sunday.

Cricket literally runs in the veins of the Kambli family. Ergo, they have fully backed Arnav, who is ensuring that he stays on the path of cricketing glory by scoring runs, rather creating a mountain of runs, to speak for his prodigious talent.

He just got back from a month-long tour of England with the G Force Cricket Academy. "I scored 830 runs from 641 balls that I faced in 27 matches," informs the scrawny little boy, with a twinkle in his big eyes. And, his mother Preeti, who has also played grade cricket in Mumbai, India, promptly completes the statistics: "He has now scored 56 fifties, two 100s and an unbeaten 99."

It is not only about statistics alone. The slightly built school boy oozes a seasoned cricketer's maturity. "I am aware that I have smaller legs compared to some of my batting partners, so I could be a pace or two behind them in running between the wickets. So, I take care of covering that handicap by smart calling (for runs)," he says when asked about his strategy when he is in the middle.

"He has had a high number of run outs in his earlier years but now he has been careful and avoids getting run out," the mother interjects.

When asked about his future, Arnav talks about his single-minded focus to play international cricket at an early age. "I want to be the youngest international player for India," he says but hastily adds that it could even be for England.

England because the 13-year-old opener has been scoring tons of runs in the UK, since he was only nine. "I have been touring England every year with academy teams and each time, I have scored plenty of runs," reveals Kambli, who is already captaining his school and academy teams not only in his own Under-13 age group but the U-15 teams as well.

He is reticent when asked if the senior boys in the team ignore his decisions as captain. However, his mother politely but quickly adds that since all the team members are aware of his talent, they respect him and his decisions.

Arnav readily opens up when we talk about the technical aspects of the game and explains how he applies his geometry knowledge while batting. "Mathematics is my favourite subject," he says, adding that while batting, he employs geometry formulas to create angles. "Science also teaches me how to read the climate and pitch conditions," he claims.

On playing cricket in the UAE, he says that it is only the short format. "We are all used to playing with white balls here and I think peers prefer to play the short format as we haven't played the longer version of the game," he reveals, adding that whenever he played with the red ball in England, he found it much tougher. "The red ball swings much more than the white," remarks Arnav, whose father Hemant Kambli was an orthodox leg-spinner and played for the Oman national team.

"My father speaks much less and only advices me post games but hardly interferes, unlike my mother, who even instructs from the boundary line during the game," he says with a chuckle, while looking at his mother.

And, while Arnav has set his eyes on higher goals, his mother rues missing a recent chance. "He is good enough to be picked for the Under-16 team but was ignored when the UAE team selection was done," she says with a tinge of sadness.

Meanwhile, Arnav believes that he will keep creating mountains of runs that would be enough to warrant his selection someday - if not for UAE, it could be for India or maybe England.

Source: Khaleej Times