IPL 2019: When Prayas Ray Barman had to strike a balance between studies and cricket

Even a year ago, Prayas Ray Barman was a mere name in the cricketing world. However, the name started to take baby steps towards gaining prominence from September onwards. He made his List A debut for Bengal in the match against Jammu and Kashmir in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. In the very first game, the leg-break bowler made an impact, having picked up four wickets.

He was also decent in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy where he finished with four wickets from as many games. Thereafter, things started to get brighter for the Young Turk as he was listed at a base price of INR 20 lakhs. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) bid for him. Eventually, it was the Virat Kohli-led RCB who brought him at a price of INR 1.5 crores.

Cricket and Studies together for Barman

Then on March 31, Barman went on to become the youngest debutant in the IPL at the age of 16 years and 157 days in the game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Hyderabad. Despite the progress in his cricketing career, life wasn’t as easy for him as during that time, his Class 12 exams were going on. Recently, Barman talked about how he managed to focus on studies amidst playing cricket.

“I was just carrying my books and when there was no practice I used to be at my hotel room studying. It wasn’t that easy. It was kind of harsh to study during the rest period. I just had to manage somehow,” Prayas Ray Barman was quoted as saying in an exclusive interview with Mid-Day.

As far as his debut match was concerned, he didn’t have a great day. The pugnacious potential ended up conceding 56 runs in his four overs as Jonny Bairstow and David Warner took him apart. With the bat, he got 19 runs lower down the order. He never got a chance of representing his franchise after the disappointing encounter at the RGI Stadium in Hyderabad.

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