Narasimha Rao’s dream comes true

Former India leg-spinner M.V. Narasimha Rao, popularly known as Bobjee, is a contended man after witnessing Ireland play its first ever Test against Pakistan in Malahide.

“This is a dream come true for me,” he told The Hindu from Ireland.

Bobjee takes pride of the fact that except two, all the others in the playing XI were coached by him at one point or the other in their career. This includes the famous O’Brien brothers — Kevin and Niall, captain William Porterfield, Ed Joyce, Tim Murtagh, Boyd Rankin, and Gary Wilson.

“Within two months of playing in Ireland when I first moved over from Hyderabad, I was into coaching. I told the administrators that they would not make much headway unless there were changes in the structure and exposure was assured to young talent.”

Bobjee told them that the whole endeavour was to get ICC affiliation.

“Luckily, with England not playing in the 1998 Commonwealth Games when cricket was included, Northern Ireland Cricket Association took part and even beat Bangladesh.”

“The growth has been steady. We lost to Scotland narrowly in the ICC 2007 World Cup qualifiers in a rain-affected match. Then, once Ed Joyce was picked by Middlesex in the English county championship, the scenario changed dramatically,” said Bobjee.

“The big break came when Ireland played in the U-19 World Cup in 2000. Though two major regions comprise Ireland geographically, cricket and rugby are the only sports where a combined Ireland team is fielded in international competitions.”

Bobjee added: “We struggled during the days when funding was a major problem. Now thanks to the ICC Test status, everything is coming to the doorsteps,” he said.

“We have shown that we belong to the elite by taking the match into the fifth day. Kevin played a matured knock.”

Bobjee takes pride in showing the Test match special cap presented to him on the occasion. “This is one of my most priceless possessions,” he signed off.