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India vs England: The making of Anshul Kamboj, newest Test pacer

India vs England: The making of Anshul Kamboj, newest Test pacer

MANCHESTER: It's not unusual for parents to go to any extent to make their children pursue sports of their choice. Story of Anshul Kamboj, India's latest Test debutant, is no different. Father Udham Singh, a middle-class farmer from Fazilpur, Haryana, not only travelled around 80km everyday for almost four years to make sure his son, who was on the heavier side, gets proper cricket training but also shifted his family to Karnal a few years later for the same reason.
Initially, Singh wanted Anshul to shed some weight and hence got him admitted to Rana Brother's Academy in Karnal when he was 11. But more than Anshul, it was a tiring task for his father. He had to wake up early in the morning to drop Anshul to the academy. "Anshul used to ride pillion with his father on a bike. They had to leave as early as 4AM to reach here by 5PM. Despite the difficult weather and long journey, the duo never got late," Satish Rana, Anshul's childhood coach, told this daily from Karnal.
Australian legend pacer Glenn McGrath was Anshul's role model and he always wanted to bowl like him with precision. "McGrath was his role model from the beginning. He always wanted to bowl like him. This made him what he is today. One thing that impressed me the most when he first came to my academy was his dedication. He was always ready for challenges and never got distracted. He was focussed on what he has to do in his life," added the coach, who has been receiving hundreds of calls as soon as Anshul's debut was confirmed ahead of the fourth Test between India and England at the Old Trafford Ground in Manchester on Wednesday.
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