Akash Gupta: Sky is the Limit

Three years ago, Akash Gupta would have laughed at anyone suggesting that he might be selected for the national cricket team. But on Tuesday, he broke into the national squad for the ACC Trophy 2006 to become the latest addition to the jewels of cricketers the country boasts of.

For the 17-year-old who has spent a major part of his life studying and playing cricket in India, it was a dream come true. “I couldn’t believe it at first,” he says when asked about his feeling on being selected for the national team.

Thirty months ago, he returned his birthplace Bhairahawa, when one of his friends suggested that he could play good cricket in Nepal. He had just represented St Andrews College in the top-level CK Nayadu Trophy Inter-College Cricket Tournament in India and was willing to go further.

One in Bhairahawa, the place his father left when he was just five years old after the family business of clothing fell apart, Akash quickly made debut for the Khukuri Club. He performed well under Jung Bahadur Thapa for the club and then represented Region No 4 in the Under-17 level and went on to play in Under-15, Under-19 and senior level national leagues. “I thought I could make to the national team after I was selected for the closed-camp training twice during those years,” he confides.

He was kept on stand-by for the U-19 ACC Cup and went Jamshedpur with the national team in its preparation for the ICC InterContinental Cup tie against Namibia last year. The youngest among three siblings, Akash promises to give his best for Nepal. Talking about the ACC Trophy, he says, “The event is very important for us and I want to do better than my capacity.”

Akash idolizes South African opener Herchelle Gibbs and supports India but doesn’t want to go back to India to play cricket. “As far as possible I want to play for Nepal, my own country,” he replies when asked if he would like to return the land where he learnt cricket.

A stroke-player by compulsion, Akash wants to improve on his sweep shots and stay longer at the crease. “I love to hit balls and I do that fairly well once I get adapted to the pitch,” Akash, who finds it difficult to speak in Nepali but still wants to reply the questions in it, says.

He believes his Nepali father, Umesh Chandra Gupta, and Indian mother, Tara, to be instrumental in his success as a cricketer. “They always supported me,” he adds. Now, while playing for the country, he hopes to give his best and receive similar support from the fans.

(Akash Gupta played three innings in the Fifth National League scoring a total of 35 runs at an average of 17.5 and his best was 20* against Kathmandu.)