Amol Muzumdar's Watershed Moment

The Indian cricket team won the World Cup on the 2^nd of November. This was a first for the women’s team. Sadly, I did not watch the match. In fact, I haven’t watched a cricket match in more than a decade. I watched the highlights of the match and snippets about the individuals that made up this great team.

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Many of them come from modest backgrounds and have braved financial challenges, social ridicule, and sporting disappointments that would’ve broken most. There’s Amanjot Kaur, a 25-year-old all-rounder hailing from Mohali, Punjab. Her father, a carpenter, carved a bat for her and saved up money to buy her a scooter so she wouldn’t miss her training sessions.

Shafali Verma, born and brought up in in Rohtak, Haryana, Verma cut her hair short, disguised herself as a boy to enrol in a cricket academy that didn’t admit girls. At 17 years of age, Shafali was the youngest player, male or female, to represent India in all three formats of international cricket. Each of these cricketers and their families, coaches, and well-wishers deserve all the accolades and good stuff coming their way.

Even amongst all these stirring stories of the grit and discipline shown by these young women to become world champions, there’s another story that resonated with me. That of their coach, Amol Muzumdar, a cricketer who, despite being a great talent and scoring a tremendous 11,167 runs in domestic cricket, was never picked to be part of the first-rung Indian cricket team.

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Muzumdar’s story shines a light on the strange, winding ways of destiny. I’m a believer in destiny that is powered by hard work. However, there is something even more powerful than destiny – timing. It is said that what is destined for you, will come to you. However, there’s a catch that is not always stated. Fate or destiny arrive in their own time.

For ordinary mortals striving to achieve something we’ve set our hearts on and working toward, the chasm between the effort we put in and the results staring us in the face can often range from disappointing to utterly heartbreaking.

THE CHANCE THAT NEVER WAS

Amol Muzumdar’s talent was spotted early by Ramakant Achrekar, a legendary coach on the Mumbai cricketing scene. Achrekar famously coached Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli who burst into the national spotlight with their 664-run partnership in an inter-school tournament. On the sidelines of that sparkling partnership stood a young Amol, all padded up, waiting for his turn to bat. That turn never came.  

Tendulkar went on to scale incredible heights in his career while Kambli’s star was a short-lived one. But unlike Kambli who at least had his chance, Amol Muzumdar never got called up despite checking all the boxes expected of any cricketer hoping to make the national side. There is no logic to it except what can be found in the German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer’s words,

“Fate shuffles the cards and we play.”

IN CONTENTION

In his first-class debut for Mumbai, Muzumdar scored 260 runs against Haryana during a Ranji Trophy match in the 1993-94 season. This record remained unsurpassed until 2018 which tells us something about the quality of that knock. And yet, he didn’t make it to the national team even though he played for the India A team alongside greats like Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.

In 2002, he considered quitting the game but eventually, decided to persevere. In 2006, he was appointed captain of the Mumbai team. Mumbai won the Ranji Trophy that season. After stints with the Assam and Andhra Pradesh teams, Muzumdar retired in 2014, never having played for India. Reflecting on his career, Muzumdar remarked,

“Cricket gave me everything, except the cap.”

THE SECOND INNINGS

However, Muzumdar’s association with professional cricket continued. Coaching gigs with India’s Under-19 and Under-23 teams as well as international assignments with the Netherlands and South African teams followed.

In October 2023, Amol Muzumdar was appointed head coach of the Indian women’s cricket team. Two years later, he stood in the middle of a roaring stadium in Mumbai with the World Cup-winning captain of his team, Harmanpreet Kaur touching his feet in respect. With fireworks lighting up the sky and an overjoyed crowd on its feet, chanting and cheering, Muzumdar planted the Indian tricolour on the pitch. Destiny may have taken her own sweet time showing up but you can’t say she lacks style.

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Perhaps, Muzumdar was always destined for greatness, just not in the way he thought. Three decades in the making, what a priceless moment it must have been for him. Isn’t it grand that a synonym for priceless in Hindi is Amol?

Many of us have, at times, felt bogged down by a lack of tangible results and the encouragement they bring. Such moments can break many a resolve. That is exactly why Muzumdar's story, humbling and uplifting as it is, strikes a chord. His story shows us that there are infinitely many kinds of success stories and that sometimes, the best thing to do is what we can and let destiny come around when it does.

With that, I extend my heartiest congratulations to the Indian women’s cricket team on their stupendous win as well as doff my hat and wish a very happy birthday to Amol Muzumdar, the architect of a triumph that has crossed the crease straight into the history books!