With two of their top pacers — Siddharth Trivedi and Lalit Patel — injured, Gujarat had a problem at hand before their crucial Ranji Trophy game against MP. But the fears were put to rest by a rookie pacer from a nondescript village. Left-arm pacer Ashraf Makda rose to the occasion and helped Gujarat log two important point in the water-tight Group A of the Elite section.From Jogvad village in Valsad district, this 27-year-old pacer started playing competitive cricket for a club in Navsari. Makda tells you how he left school when in class ninth because his father — a small-time farmer — couldn’t afford the expenses. Keeping that in mind one might label him an amateur trying to find his feet at national level but, that is, until he tell you about his South African connection.Makda went to South Africa in search for a livelihood and ended up playing cricket. ‘‘A friend in South Africa suggested that I start playing cricket for local teams. And soon I was turning up for a province side.’’Among his fond South African memories are playing in the same team as Daryll Cullinan, Nick Potas and Adam Bacher, besides facing up to Jonty Rhodes and Alan Donald. ‘‘I picked up the wickets of Nicky Boje, Jimmy Adams and Boeta Dippenaar,’’ he adds with a smile. But a chance meeting with Vinod Kambli — who was playing for Boland in the South Africa — made Makda return home. ‘‘Kambli told me that I should play in India and that I will have better chances of making it to the highest level. In South Africa, since I am not a citizen of that nation, I wouldn’t go beyond playing for province sides.’’Ashraf says he returned to India last year and started playing for Valsad district. ‘‘In the inter-district tournament I picked up 24 wickets in 4 matches and was noticed by Anil Patel (GCA selection committee chairman). ‘‘Soon I made it to the Gujarat team. I played my first match against Mumbai and picked up two wickets and now against MP I got my first five-wicket haul,’’ he says.But before that ‘fiver’, Makda shot into limelight grabbing the wickets of Rahul Dravid, Ajay Jadeja and Sanjay Bangar in the Kedar Chavan Benefit Match played here early this year.So, how has been the journey so far? ‘‘The most important thing is I am the first from my village to play Ranji Trophy and that has made my parents very happy,’’ comes the reply.What about the future? ‘‘After this season here, I will probably go to play county cricket in England,’’ he says. The boy from Jogvad is going places.
