Pravin Amre’s cricketing career: Promising debut and case of bad luck

Promising debuts often end up as one match wonders but this is not the case every time. Pravin Amre had scored a fifty & a hundred on ODI & test debut. After 11 tests and 37 ODIs his international career was over, all this at the age of 26.

Pravin Amre was born on 14 Aug 1968. His entry in cricket was accidental. He used to go to Shivaji Park but only fielded. After some time he was introduced to Ramakant Achrekar. He then turns up for Shardashram school and blossomed under watchful eyes of Achrekar sir. Consistent showing in school level made his way towards Bombay Ranji team. At 18 years of age breaking into Mumbai (then Bombay) was never going to be easy. He had an offer for Railways and Achrekar sir advised him to shift as Railways were offering him a secure job as well which took care of his family. In his first game for Railways, he made 186 no.

In next two seasons, he scored runs galore at average of 85. He carried his form zonal games and his 246 for ROI against Bengal still remains the highest score by any Batsmanin Irani Trophy. With this kind of performances, the International call was around the corner and finally, Amre had his first taste of international cricket in ODI format in the mecca of cricket Eden gardens Calcutta. (now Kolkata).It also marked the return of South Africa post-apartheid and Amre’s entry might have gone unnoticed.

Pravin Amre soaked pressure of anxiety and scored a calm and composed 55 off 74 balls that ensured Indian victory. He combined well with another Shardashram lad in Sachin Tendulkar. He was part of the Australian tour and played in ODIs only. Then came his biggest moment of playing test cricket for India against South Africa in their den. Pravin Amre came to team with India in disarray at 38/4. Facing the likes of Allan Donald, Brian Macmillan and Brett Schultz he went on to score a hundred that helped India team to take a small lead. Many had labelled him as a player who could play spin but would not be able to face pace bowling but Amre’s grit and determination enabled him to score a knock which promised a lot for the future.

In that tour, India had struggled throughout but Amre had done well and even helped India won a consolation game, the final ODI of series. In 1993 England team arrived and Amre did make two fifties. Despite good knocks at home, two indifferent outings in SL cost him his place. The test he played against Srilanka in 1993 was his last. His ODI career was not going well and that could be put down to fact that he batted at 6 or 7. At that position very rarely you will get the chance to get your eye in. Infamous hero cup semifinal he got chance to bat earlier because of collapse and scored 48 in a low scoring game. That was the last significant contribution by Amre for India and after that, he was relegated to the bench and never got the chance to play again. He kept playing domestic cricket but was never the same batsman as was before his international days. He kept changing teams, Railways-Bengal-Rajasthan and lastly settled at Mumbai. He scored 103 in his first outing for Mumbai.

In the total of 10 tests he scored 425 runs at a healthy average of 42.5. Played his last test in 1993 and then never got a chance. Destiny had been unfair to him and some part of it can be blamed on the selection process which was very confusing and weird during those days. In 1997 he was selected for Indian Masters series consisting players of yesteryear such as Sandhu, Sandeep Patil and many more. He was 29 years at that time, was trying to make a comeback and here he was selected for Master series.it would have been a bitter pill to swallow. In 2000 he finished his domestic career at Goa. He took up coaching roles and went on to coach IPL team, Ranji teams as well.

Total of 10 innings, runs scored at 42.5 which is a good enough average and should have been given more chances in test. A career that could have become better was cut short & answer to this can only be given by selectors.