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During the current Ranji season, a star son has been released. But Agni Dev Chopra, 25, never had the luxury of a new take that his father, filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra, had throughout his illustrious career. He will always have a ball with his name written on it, but for now the world is willing to “judge” a privileged child, who is also “passionate about cricket.” However, for Agni Dev, it was about making a statement on the 22 yards and five first-class hundreds for Mizoram in the Ranji Trophy, at least making it abundantly clear that he is more than a decent cricketer with potential to improve.
Although the runs came in the Plate Group, which mainly comprises the northeastern states, a tally of 767 runs in four games, with scores such as 166 and 92, 164, 114, 105 and 101, is as good as it gets.
Agni Dev could have taken the more glamorous route and entered Tinsel Town, but he didn’t.
“So since I was a kid I was asked this question: would you go to the movies, but I never thought I would ever be in the movies? I never thought that, oh, I should go in because my dad makes movies and it will be an easy path for me.
“I was never interested in movies. I mean, I love watching movies and having a good time, but it was never my passion,” the eloquent Agni Dev told PTI during a conversation.
So what was the advice you got from the man who made classics like Parinda, 1942-A Love Story, Three Idiots (as a producer) and the latest blockbuster, 12th Fail?
“My father told me and my sister when we were younger what his father told him: “Agar tumhe sadaak par mochi (cobbler) banna hai, apne sadaak ka best mochi banna. (If you become a shoemaker, be the best in your lane.)
“He gave us freedom to do whatever we wanted, but he told us to try to be the best. Talent can only take you so far and rest depends on the work you put in and I saw that in his films and the amount of work he put in and in my mother (noted film critic Anupama Chopra) in her profession, and that rubbed off on me. He played for Mumbai Under-19 and Under-23, but admitted that he had a poor season last in the Mumbai age group and was told by his coach, Khuspreet Singh, that he was better off playing for a team where he would “get playing time” . to show off his skills instead of waiting for the lion shield (Mumbai logo) to appear on his cap.
He went to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) where the trials of the Mizoram senior team were being held.
“Coming here to Mizoram, everyone has been very welcoming and really included me, and there are two more professionals – KC bhai (KC Cariappa) and Mohit Jangra. They are inclusive and welcoming and I never felt like an outsider. They taught me a few words and Mizo phrases and I don’t feel in a very different place. The standard of bowling in Plate Group is certainly quite a few notches below Elite, but then again, Agni Dev has a counter.
“People will say what they have to say but, at the end of the day, it’s your performance and there are a lot of players who play in the same division and don’t score as many runs. The standard is the same for everyone.”
Right now, his main goal is to take Mizoram to the Plate Group final, which will ensure automatic entry into Elite next year.
“I think I am trying to be in the present and my aim is to take Mizoram to the Elite division. If we are in the Elite division then there is nothing to think about in terms of quality of bowling and I will play for Mizoram,” he said . saying.
He had a decent T20 SMAT with a strike rate of over 150, but that didn’t earn him an IPL offer.
“Maybe I’m not good enough and that’s why they didn’t pick me,” he said, speaking quite well for his age.
Has it ever occurred to you that several IPL teams are run by people from the film industry (KKR is co-owned by Shah Rukh Khan and Punjab Kings by Preity Zinta)? “For me, I want to be chosen for anything based on my pedigree, it shouldn’t be for anything else. I don’t think my dad would pick up the phone and tell someone just because I told him to. I have to be good enough to Let them call my dad, instead of my dad calling them.
“If something like that happened (his father joining the ranks), they might include me in the squad, but I probably wouldn’t be able to play in the eleven. I don’t want to be in a team where they pick me because of a phone call and then I’m not going to play.” “. He signed off on a note of confidence.
“It doesn’t help to use a connection to achieve a dream you wanted to achieve. Cricket was never my father’s dream. It was my dream.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated channel.)
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