A promising youngster has left the UAE for Mumbai to continue his cricketing education as he aims to make his dream a reality by playing for India one day.
Arnav Kambli, 13, travelled to India last week after making the cut during a tournament in Mumbai that attracted more than 1,000 young prospects.
Kambli was one of 18 boys to be selected after impressing in the Under-16 event and instead of making multiple trips between Dubai and India to test himself on Indian soil, he decided to make the switch and live permanently in Mumbai.
His major reason was to get as much game time as possible against India’s best young prospects in a competitive environment that would help him develop as a cricketer. He arrives in Mumbai on the back of an impressive innings in the UAE where he has picked the brains of many former internationals including ex-South Africa captain Graeme Smith, former India coach Gary Kirsten and ex-Pakistan batsman Mudassar Nazar. That’s not to mention the numerous personal accolades he has won after scoring tons of runs in as many matches.
The batsman/wicket-keeper will now play school cricket before joining a club in October and continue his road of donning the India jersey one day.
“The trials wasn’t easy as you are playing in different conditions in Mumbai but if you want something really bad, you should be willing to sweat it out,” said Kambli, who joined Dubai-based G-Force Academy as a five-year-old. “It was really intense but I was more than happy to get through.”
On his decision to move to India, he said: “Mumbai is a place that worships cricket. Anywhere you go, you see someone who plays cricket. My decision was easy as there are many players and clubs here and there are many opportunities to play in tournaments. The competition over here is very intense and there are a lot of grounds to play on. All of these things put together excited me and this is why I decided to stay in India to pursue my cricketing dream.”
Although he has just moved to India, he has set himself ambitious targets over the next 12 months. “My aim is to play for the Mumbai team within the next year,” he added. “I want to play well and keep improving and score as many runs. My passion is cricket and my dream is to play for India that is why I have chosen Mumbai as my first step to get closer to my goal.”
