Winning 2012 U-19 WC was to be high point of career: Kamal Passi

In the evening, when he returned to his club for training, his fellow cricketers started congratulating him; many of them were perplexed by the fact that Kamal Passi is an U-19 World Cup winner. Confused by the surprise adulation, Passi asked one of his teammates what the fuss was all about.

“He explained to me that they had showed the highlights of my 6/23 against Zimbabwe during the Ireland match, and commentator Alan Wilkins had asked about my whereabouts, what I am doing, and why I have not played enough first-class cricket,” Passi told The Indian Express.

“When I went through all those messages that night, most of them were from journalists asking for interviews. Few were from my former Punjab and Services teammates. Everyone was asking me only one question, ‘why didn’t you play enough cricket? Why did your career never take off?” shared Passi with a big laugh.

“It has been almost 10 years since we won the U-19 World Cup, and I still don’t know where it went wrong. I didn’t have the answer, so I decided not to reply to any of them.”

Passi took 10 wickets in the World Cup — the second-most for India – but has since managed to play only four first-class games and a solitary List A match, for which he holds the Punjab Cricket Association responsible.

“After winning the title, I told Harmeet (Singh), who was my roommate, that I am having this terrible feeling that winning the U-19 World Cup is going to be the high point of my career. Unfortunately, whatever I told Harmeet that night turned out to be the reality.”

Passi says he was consistently ignored for even the Punjab U-23 team, making him switch to Services, for whom he eventually made his first-class debut in November 2015.

“I came back after winning the Cup, and my name was not in the Ranji Trophy camp of 40. Generally, you expect to get an entire season with the senior state team after playing for India U-19. But forget senior team camp, they didn’t even select me for the CK Nayudu [then U-23, now U-25] camp. From being someone who performed and won the U-19 World Cup, I was not good enough to play for my state’s U-23 side.

“Next year, they put me in the U-23 team, and one of the selectors told me that I was too young to play for the senior team. But Sandeep Sharma, who was with me in the U-19 squad, was playing all the matches. I said, ‘fair enough, I will earn that call.’ I ended up taking the most wickets for Punjab U-23, but again next year, the selectors gave me the cold shoulder.”

In 2015, Passi got a job in the Indian Navy. He played two first-class and one List A game for Services in 2015-16 before returning to Punjab.

“The move to Services was a desperate one. I never got the chance to settle down, and the moment Punjab called me back, I again jumped ship. It was an emotional decision. I had played U-14, U-16, U-19, U-23 for Punjab, I wanted to give it one more try.”

In 2016-17, Passi finally made his debut for Punjab, but he got only two first-class matches and was dropped. “I accepted it because I failed to grab the opportunity.

“A selector told me they weren’t looking at me for red-ball. They wanted me to play white-ball. Last day of the Syed Mushtaq Ali camp, the coach told me only two bowlers between myself, Sran (Barinder) and Gony paji (Manpreet) will be selected. I immediately knew. Both of them had played for India. I packed my kitbag and left.

“I cried for at least 45 minutes in the PCA parking lot. It has been five years, and I have never been called up again.”

Before the 2021-22 season, Passi bagged 11 wickets for Amritsar in the Katoch Shield, Punjab’s inter-district tournament, including a four-wicket haul in the semis and three wickets in the final, which Patiala won.

“A funny thing happened after the final. I was standing with Sharad Lumba, my Amritsar teammate. The PCA secretary (Puneet Bali) was congratulating the players. He greeted Sharad and walked past me. He thought I was just Sharad’s friend. Then Sharad formally introduced me to him saying that I had played U-19 for India. Secretary sahab was shocked; he looked at me from top to bottom and said, ‘You have played for India U-19?’

“To answer all those questions about why my cricket never took off, it is because of my association. I have received step-motherly treatment, and I am still trying to figure out the reason.

“To Mr Alan Wilkins, sir, I am still an active cricketer. I am still looking to cement my place in the Punjab senior team. I am 29, I still have a few years of cricket left in me, and I am an optimistic person.”

Passi, who works for the GST department in Mumbai, has no complaints from the game. “I have my share of annoyance with the administrators, but not with the sport. Because of cricket, I have got this job in the GST department. If not for this job, I don’t know what I would have done with my life.”

He is not following the current U-19 World Cup but has one piece of advice for the youngsters. “Cricket is not the end of life. The post U-19 phase will be very depressing. Not all of you will play for the India senior side even if you win the U-19 World Cup. Some of your mates will get big IPL contracts, while some you will be toiling to get matches for your senior state team.

“Reach out to your coaches, friends and families, and never lose hope. If any of you want to talk to me, feel free to drop me a text on social media, I’d love to help.”