World Cup 2015: Ignored by Kerala, Krishna Chandran Karate's passion for cricket took him to Dubai

By Anand Vasu

At noon on February 28, the more enthusiastic cricket lovers of the village of Kollengode, some 20 km from the town of Palakkad in Kerala, will gather at a clearing and congregate before a giant screen erected to showcase one match. India will be playing a World Cup match in Perth, and a Kollengode boy will be proudly strutting his stuff. Ironically, it will not be for his beloved country, but for the United Arab Emirates, against India.

Krishna Chandran Karate – and he is quick to explain he is no lover of martial arts; the name is his mother’s family name, pronounced kaa-raa-te – will bat in the top order and bowl medium pace, much like his idol, Jacques Kallis.

At last count, the population of Kollengode was less than 20000, and barely anyone from the village, known mostly for an Ayurveda centre, had made it even to the dizzy heights of playing for Kerala in the Ranji Trophy, forget about beyond.

“See, it’s going to be a big moment for people back home,” says Krishna Chandran. “For people who saw me playing in my shorts, with a tennis ball, on the streets of Kollengode, it’s going to be a big thing to watch me on TV, playing against India, in a World Cup match, at a ground like the WACA.”

If the story began on the streets of Kollengode, it progressed more rapidly in Chennai, where Krishna Chandran studied in St John’s International school. “At first, I used cricket as an escape, just to get over feeling homesick,” says Krishna Chandran. “Then I began to enjoy being good at it and enjoy working on it.”

In inter-school tournaments, Krishna Chandran played against Dinesh Karthik. When he moved to Bangalore, he was in the same school as Robin Uthappa, and in college, Stuart Binny was his mate. When Krishna Chandran rose through the ranks in Kerala junior cricket and made it to the Under-19 team, Sreesanth was his room-mate. Today, in a second irony, Sreesanth will be at home, watching on TV as Krishna Chandran plays in the World Cup.

“It was a dream to one day play in the World Cup, but, frankly, I never thought it would happen. Many of my friends had gone on to play at that level, and I did feel left out,” he says. “In India you have to be consistent as a first class player for someone to even look at you. But I was never given an opportunity to do that. In that sense, my dream was crushed.”

Krishna Chandran’s phone has been buzzing, his parents are being recognised back home, and even in sleepy Nelson, a Malayali lady at a local restaurant couldn’t hide her excitement when she met him. “You know what they say, even if you go to the moon there will already be a Malayali there running a tea shop,” he says with a warm smile.

“I did not even watch a complete India match. When Sachin Tendulkar was batting, I would watch, and between every ball, I would run to the puja room to pray that he would not get out, and run back,” he says. “I did that through Tendulkar’s innings against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup, when he smashed Shoaib Akhtar. When Tendulkar got out, I would switch off the TV and go out to play.”

On February 28, Tendulkar will be in a television studio, watching India’s match against UAE as an expert. How ironic it would be if Krishna Prasad was scoring runs, taking wickets and holding catches against his idol’s team. Ironic, and poetic, for it will show that sometimes, dreams do come true.

- Wisden India