Buoyant bowler

"Well bowled Bawa!” called out his teammates as left arm medium pace bowler Arzan Nagwaswalla succeeded in taking five wickets for 78 runs when representing Gujarat at the Ranji Trophy against Mumbai from November 28 to 30, 2018. "On a grassy pitch, Nagwaswalla not only came up with a five wicket haul but also seemed to indicate that it is not all over as far as cricketing legacy of the Parsis is concerned,” noted a write-up in DNA, November 29, 2018.

Arzan Nagwaswalla (inset and above far l): playing for Gujarat

Playing his first match at the Wankhede Stadium in Bombay, the youngster admitted he was nervous when handed the new ball. But "it all evaporated after the first over.” Having made his debut in first class cricket this November, 21-year-old Nagwaswalla played the first match against Baroda and the next one against Chattisgarh, noted a write-up by former cricket umpire Keki Doodhwala who commended the youngster for performing "consistently to catch the attention of West Zone selectors.” According to Doodhwala, the upcoming cricketer is a "useful lower middle order right hand batsman also. Unfortunately so far his talent as a batsman is not fully utilized due to the star studded Gujarat Ranji team. He is a good fielder too. He is getting full support and cooperation from his family as well as officials of Bulsar District Cricket Association and Gujarat Cricket Association.”
"I attribute my progress to my personal coach Kiran Tandel who himself is a Ranji Trophy player and also all my state coaches who have helped me throughout,” Nagwaswalla conveyed to Parsiana. "I have been playing cricket since my childhood,” training professionally since the age of 16 years, he added. He practices around 15 hours a week at his village Nargol. "Currently I am preparing for my match against Railways that starts tomorrow,” he mentioned on December 5.
A final year student of Bachelor of Business Administration from SSR College in Silvassa, Arzan’s family includes father Rohinton who is currently working at Ahura Mazda Manufacturing Company at Sarigam, mother Maheru who is a homemaker and tuition teacher, and brother Vispi who works at Meril Life Sciences, Vapi. Felicitated at the Sanjan Day function on November 16 this year (see "Future forgotten,” Parsiana, December 7, 2018), Arzan who views himself as a liberal Zoroastrian considers himself "lucky to be born in this community. Our religion is very sacred and pious.”

Whilst there have been no Parsi cricketers on the Indian team since 1974-75 when Farokh Engineer played against West Indies, erstwhile Parsi umpires have continued to remain in the news. Former international cricket umpire and current umpires’ coach Bomi Jamula (pictured) was invited on October 15, 2018 as guest speaker at the Legends Club meet at the Cricket Club of India, as per a report sent by Doodhwala. Comparing the batting techniques of opening batsmen, Jamula, who was national umpire for 27 years and international umpire for nearly 10, mentioned that whilst Vijay Merchant always insisted on a helmet and other good quality protective gear, Sunil Gavaskar preferred using a skull cap. He also referred to one match during the 1936 tour of England when the Indian opening batsmen scored 203 runs with both crossing a century despite wily efforts to break their partnership.