For many years Jaspal Bansal has been known as one of the most consistent and hard-hitting batsmen in Dubbo cricket. With his prowess with the bat, who would have known he had taken a couple wickets against the mighty West Indies? With the summer of cricket in full swing and his beloved Indian side about to start a Test series against Australia, the former Indian under-19 and under-25 representative took time out to tell the Daily Liberal about his time in the sport and how he hopes to help develop the next generation of cricketers in Dubbo. We asked Jaspal a series of eight questions and gave him free reign to answer how he wanted - this is him in his own words.
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1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background in the game of cricket?
I play cricket for the Dubbo CYMS cricket club, work as an IT professional and moved to Dubbo with my family about 11 years ago. I have now been playing cricket for about 33 years with five of those years at a first class level in India.
I have represented India in the under-19 and under-25 age groups against Australia and West Indies.
When young, I always dreamt about bowling fast and had the legendary Dennis Lillee as my role model, so the best moment in my life came when Lillee agreed to coach us at the MRF Pace Foundation in India for two years.
The highest level of cricket that I have played was when I was selected to represent the Indian under-25 team to play against the mighty West Indies in 1987.
I took a couple of wickets and scored 70 runs coming in at number eight.
2. Is India really as cricket-mad as everyone says?
Probably more. You cannot grasp the cricket madness until you experience it first hand in the streets and parks in India where multiple matches are played at the same time.
Cricket is in every walk of life and everyone has got an opinion on how Sachin Tendulkar should go about getting his International century of centuries, whether he is a billionaire or just trying to make ends meet.
In a country where more than 100 languages are spoken, Cricket is a universal language which helps bring everyone together. This placard which was up at one of the international games in India recently, sums it all up “Cricket is my religion and Sachin is my God”.
3. In your opinion, what has been Sachin Tendulkar’s contribution to cricket in India?
He is the hope of every Indian and has made them very proud by his achievements in cricket.
I am sure his retirement will bring tears to a lot of Indians. In a developing nation of more than a billion people where life can sometimes be very tough for a lot of people, he brings a smile to these faces.
The most amazing thing about him is that his whole cricketing life he has been in the spotlight and even then he has been so humble and has managed to keep a level head.
4. You represented India at a junior level. Who were some of the well-known players you played with and against?
Sir Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Brian Lara, Ian Bishop, Courtney Walsh, Tom Moody, Paul Reiffel, Rahul Dravid, Kapil Dev, K Srikanth, Mohinder Amarnath, Sanjay Manjrekar
5. How do you see this summer’s Test series between Australia and India playing out?
I think it should be a quite evenly contested Test series. Australia may have an edge depending on how young and exciting James Pattinson and Co bowl to India’s batting legends Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman.
6. When did you move to Dubbo and what brought you here?
After having migrated from India, we moved to Dubbo in early 2001 due to my work. During my early cricketing career I was fortunate to tour Australia twice on two month long tours in late-80s.
We travelled and played cricket in not only the major cities but other places like Newcastle, Lismore, Berri, Narrandera, Orange, Shepparton and Mildura.
I was amazed by the landscape, wide open spaces and the friendly nature and openness of the people here and thought to myself that this would be a great place to come and settle if I could.
So in 2000, Jaswinder and myself applied for an Australian permanent residency based on our teaching and IT skills and we’re thrilled to be here.
7. CYMS haven’t had much luck so far this season in the Whitney Cup. What is needed in order to turn things around?
We have lost a lot of experienced players this season who are not that easy to replace. We have quite a few young and promising cricketers who are the future of our club but it will take some time for them to hone their skills. We will turn things around but we have to be patient and keep encouraging them at all times.
8. You’re heavily involved in junior cricket as well. What attracted you to helping out in that area?
The love of cricket and the hope of giving something back, if I could.
I began by coaching CYMS-A boys team a few years back but am now coaching the CYMS all girls team in the Dubbo under-14 competition and both my daughters, Jasleen and Jasmine, also play in this team.
I have also been coaching the Macquarie Valley under-16 girls team for the last few years and the girls are very proud to have won the Western Zone Inter Council competition for three years running now.
