In an exemplary display of grit and determination, 24-year-old Prashant Rana has proved that nothing is impossible. Hailing from a remote village in Odisha’s Nayagarh, Prashant is all set to represent the Odisha Ranji Trophy team.
From working as a plumber for 9 years to cementing his place in Odisha’s Ranji team, Rana has traveled full of hard work and unrelenting efforts to achieve the rare feat.
Rana is all set to represent the state in the Ranji Trophy tournament to be held in Ahmedabad on February 17, where Odisha will play against Saurashtra in an elite Group D match.
Rana worked as a plumber during the first part of the day to survive, toil and in the afternoon at the stadium to invoke his relentless perseverance to fulfill his dreams.
Coming from a poor marginalized farming family, Prashant’s father Sanatan Rana, a farmer, also worked as a priest in the village Shiva temple in Odisha’s Nayagarh district, while his brother earned his livelihood by selling vegetables.
After completing his matriculation from a village school in his native city of Nayagarh, Rana completed his graduation. However, fate has some other plans for him. A cricket fanatic since childhood, Rana dropped out of college in 2011 to convince his father and elder brother to allow him to play cricket at Silver City Cuttack, the headquarters of the Odisha Cricket Association.
When he left home for Cuttack to start his dream career, his family members sent him Rs 2000 at first.
However, in the next 4 months, life took a new turn as his father was diagnosed with tuberculosis. The money coming to him stopped, as the family could barely save any money due to all the medical expenses.
Rana was called by his family members to return as they were unable to pay to help him stay in Cuttack. He felt that he should explore and try other opportunities and even apply for Army, BSF or CRPF jobs instead.
But Rana had other plans in mind, he started looking for a job in capital Bhubaneswar to pursue his passion and was not ready to give up so easily.
Speaking to India Today, Prashant Rana said: “I was so fond of cricket that after appearing for class X board exams in the morning, I used to play matches in my village in the afternoon. When my family is unable to send me money I thought that monetary issues would not hinder me in pursuing my career, so I thought of taking any job for a living so that I could continue my passion.”
He said, “I want to thank my coach Wasim Jaffer sir for making me realize my potential and giving me the opportunity. I would also like to thank the secretary of OCA (Odisha Cricket Association) and other members for standing behind me. Am.”
Prashant Rana is all set to represent Odisha in the Ranji Trophy (Photo Credits: Sufiyan)
In 2012, Rana started working as a fire safety officer in a private company in Bhubaneswar and was paid a monthly salary of Rs 14,000. This was enough to live in a rented accommodation and pursue his career in cricket, however, he had to leave the job only after a 20-day stint as the job required him to work from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. Should have done. There is no time left for him to play cricket.
Rana then moved to Cuttack and started looking for a job there, not finding any good job with suitable duty hours for him so that he could practice cricket in the afternoon, he joined as a plumber.
As a plumber, Rana was paid Rs 210 per day and his duty hours were till 4:00 pm, however, he could not go to the stadium on time, so he had to make slight adjustments with his employer. made a deal for His duty hours, now he was paid a half day’s salary of Rs 100 per day and his working hours were till 1:00 pm.
Rana was happy with the new working hours; He never told his family members that he was working as a plumber, fearing that they might call him back to the village and ask him to join any government job.
After finishing his work and having lunch between 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm, Rana will walk 30-40 km on cycle from his place of stay to reach Tej Stadium at 3:00 pm.
With the passage of time in 2014, Rana bought a bike to reach the stadium from his savings from a plumber’s job, as cycling would cost him a lot of time and energy and he also started taking the necessary nutritional diet for the players. Was.
Union Sporting Club’s Cuttack-based cricket coach Pradeep Chauhan, under whom Rana has trained since 2012, told India Today that Rana’s stature is his advantage, his ability to bowl fast with old balls and create bounce. .
“He has worked hard on his swing and pace, he picks up the ball quickly after pitching it,” Chauhan said.
“I don’t remember ever making it to the senior cricket team in Odisha without playing in an U-19 or U-23 tournament directly. That’s what makes him unique. With his height, nipple bowling action and sloganeering ability, I’m sure That would go too far,” he said.