How this IPL star defied age to spin a success story

Pravin Tambe might dislike it — all that nagging narrative of age being synonymous with his name and career — but it’s been the single biggest contributor to his fame. He knows it, resents it and just can’t shake it off.“When I played, it was only about cricket for me,” he says. “I was not aware of my age. Whatever I played, in the IPL [Indian Premier League], Ranji [Trophy], so much in the papers were about my age, ‘at the age of 41’. That kept repeating.”The recurring topic annoys him, but then Tambe’s career is not one that would have inspired a biopic, had it not been for his age. At 41, the medium-pacer-turned-leg-spinner, who also likes to bat, was plucked out of obscurity into the Rajasthan Royals team in 2013. Tambe credits that wild gamble to the then Royals captain Rahul Dravid, a batsman known for taking no chances. medium90370418Till then, Tambe’s biggest promotion from playing tennis ball cricket and mid-level tournaments in the city was to be named in the list of probable players for the Mumbai team more than a decade earlier. The IPL though catapulted him to instant stardom, this short, slightly portly man with an easy smile and infectious enthusiasm, who was referred to as “uncle” when he first showed up at the Royals nets by teammates half his age. Current captain Sanju Samson, for instance, was 18 at the time.An inspiring figureTambe had the most wickets in the Champions League T20 later that year and took a hattrick against Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2014 IPL, making him the flavour of the league for a few seasons. Fans amazed at this hidden gem and most often for the fact that it had been uncovered — at the age of 42.“What can be better than a mature leg spinner because the art itself takes so long to develop, to get to a level of mastery,” says Zubin Bharucha, strategy, development and performance director at Royals, who has been with the franchise from the beginning. “He not just did a great job for us — he went on to single-handedly take the team to the final of the Champions League and to qualify three out of four years running.”When producer Sudip Tiwari first approached Tambe for the biopic, the cricketer declined. But Tiwari persisted and Tambe was convinced by the filmmakers’ motive — to show him as an inspiring figure who stayed committed to the thing he loved, playing cricket. The result, Kaun Pravin Tambe, with Shreyas Talpade playing the lead, will soon be out on a streaming service.“He signifies passion on a cricket field,” Dravid once said of the leg-spinner. “He spent time speaking to others, hours and hours practising. He was the first to pick up the ball and last to leave. He was at every single gym session. To play for 20 years without recognition, that’s passion.”Rahul Dravid speaks about Pravin Tambe mediumTambe adds: “I get as much knowledge as possible. There should be no shortage of it. [Australian] James Faulkner used to say, bowl off the top of the stumps. Shane Watson would tell me, which one of my deliveries is easy to play. I used to get advice from all players.”He underplays any element of glamour in his life, calling his story as similar to any other middle class aspiring cricketer in the city, playing at times with the tennis ball, working a full-time job and balancing family with sport. He led a “simple life with no complication”. He worked to sustain a family, but cricket was his focus, even though selections to better grades kept eluding him. medium90370294 “I knew that if I play better, I will get everything,” says Tambe over the phone from Mumbai, ahead of this season’s IPL starting March 26. As part of the Kolkata Knight Riders’ support staff, he is in a bio-bubble along with all other players. “I am from Mumbai, all boys who play gully club, A division, think they will play Ranji, then they will play for India, for the west zone etc. My intention was to keep playing, playing better. No one should stop me from playing cricket.” medium90371563A gully cricketer at heartHe never gave up, even though the probability of getting into a higher level of the sport is inversely proportional to a player’s age. “I am not saying it for the sake of saying it… I never felt like quitting,” he says. “Even while coaching now, I feel like I should be bowling. I want that, I want to compete. If you feel like you can do it, you can do it. I live for cricket and die for it.”His IPL heroics got him into the Mumbai team, playing two first-class matches in 2013-14. At 47, he was still grabbing attention, taking a hat-trick in 2018 in the brutally batsman-friendly format of T10 League. He delivered four wickets for six runs in one over, two of his wickets gifted to full tosses and two off deliveries that did not rise up at all medium90370520At 48, he became the first Indian to be part of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in 2020 for Trinbago Knight Riders, setting off the belief that Tambe may well be spinning it in some league in 2044.“Of PT’s hunger, resilience and determination to succeed at that level…” says Bharucha. “Where during a T20 game everybody is getting smashed basically, and as a captain, you look around to your bowlers thinking who do you throw the ball to. Every situation, PT’s hand was the first one up, jumping around and telling Rahul, ‘I want to bowl’. This is a story that will be told forever at the [Rajasthan] Royals.”The brightest perk to come out of the IPL for Tambe was a hike in salary (at the DY Patil University where he is a sports officer). “That was a big thing,” he says. “Fame was not so important. I was a gully cricketer and I still think like that. Because of the IPL, I did something for my family.”Tambe playing gully cricket medium nocaption At 50, he continues to play in leagues in the West Indies and Abu Dhabi, revelling in a career that he believes began less than a decade ago, when he was called for the Royals’ trials in Jaipur. “Everyone asks about my age…” he trails off, but recovers quickly. “I was like, why are you asking that? Give me any challenge, I will do it. Wherever I went, it was the age thing. Everyone has the same challenges — injuries etc. How you go ahead is important. I have no regrets. I did not play for India, that will be in my mind. People get success late or early. I kept trying. I fought for it and I got it.”Untitled Carousel 90172416