St Stephen’s alumnus’ journey from academics to the IPL

Cricket has had its fair share of intellectuals on the field. From bankers and doctors to teachers and philosophers, many have tried their hand at the game, and some have even reached the highest level. For instance, England’s fast bowler Frank Tyson was a literature student and was known for quoting Shakespeare and Wordsworth to batsmen after bowling bouncers at them. Delhi boy

Shelly Shaurya

might not be in the same league as Tyson yet, but he has one thing in common with the English great – the 23-year-old is also a scholar. Shelly is the only NTSE (National Talent Search Exam) scholar to be playing in the ongoing Indian Premier League, where he is part of the Gujarat Lions squad.

‘Being signed by Gujarat team came as a surprise’
Shelly captained the Delhi U-23 for two seasons and also played four games in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2013-2014. But the IPL is new for him. Talking about his IPL experience, he says, “It was a surprise when I was signed by the Gujarat team. I have been going for trials for several teams over the past few years, but nothing had turned up. This year too, I went for a trial for Gujarat’s team and it went OK. But you never know or expect getting a call. So it came as a surprise to me. It has been an unreal experience so far.”
Despite being in the squad with the Gujarat Lions, Shelly hasn’t featured in the playing XI even once this season. But the 23-year-old is far from disappointed. Merely sharing the dressing room with the likes of Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan and Brendon McCullum is enough for the Delhi lad. He tells us, “The exposure is pretty good. I have never played cricket at this level before. It’s very different from the domestic circuit. There are so many international players that you can just learn by watching them. You get to see how professional they are and the way they carry themselves from up close. So it’s a good learning experience. I don’t regret not getting to play in the XI. This experience is good enough for now.”

‘My family was satisfied that I could balance cricket and academics’
Shelly’s father is a civil servant and currently works in the Ministry of Health and Welfare, while his mother is a housewife. His older sister is a doctor. Was there pressure on him as well to focus more on studies than cricket? “Not really,” he replies, “My family has always been very supportive of my cricket aspirations. I think that since I was already doing quite well in studies and winning competitions, they were satisfied that I could strike a balance between cricket and academics.” The Vasant Kunj boy is an alumnus of Delhi Public School, RK Puram, and St Stephen’s College, where he studied Economics. He was the captain of both his school’s cricket team and the Indian Public Schools team, which comprises school students from across the country. “It was about time management, mostly,” he tells us, “Since I was good at both studies and cricket, I enjoyed both. Initially, cricket was just a game I played, a co-curricular activity. But when I entered my teens, I decided that I would play it professionally one day. But I never compromised on studies, I would still score well in exams. Even in college, my attendance managed to scrape through to the minimum level that allowed me to take exams. There were times when I would travel to another city to play a match, return to Delhi the same night because I had an exam the next day, and after the exam, travel back to play in the next game. It was hectic, but worth it. My coaches and teachers both in school and college supported me a lot throughout.”
India has no dearth of cricketing heroes, but Shelly says that he has never idolized any one in particular. In fact, he goes out of his way to avoid reading about cricketers. He explains, “I like reading biographies, particularly those of sportspersons. But I make it a point to avoid cricketers’ biographies because I feel that if I do that, I will be so influenced by them that I will try to emulate them. I don’t want to do that. I want to have my own style and individuality.”