Name: Milan Biswas, a.k.a. Buroda (picture left by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya)

Age: 35

Occupation: Cricket coach

But with a difference: Biswas has been a cricket coach for nearly 14 years. He had started coaching while playing in the Calcutta league. What sets him apart is his effort to help poor children play cricket. “Cricket is an expensive game. A decent cricket bat costs at least Rs 1,000. The rest of the gear also costs a lot. How do children who aren’t assured of two square meals a day play this game?” he asks.

Talent scout: The resident of Dum Dum Bediyapara remembers noticing 11-year-old Debashish Mondal in 1992 playing cricket in an alley near Sinthi Roypara Cricket Coaching Centre, where he teaches. He coached Debashish and raised money to fund his expenses. Others like Debashish followed. He picked 13-year-old Avi Naskar in a similar way. Avi, who scored 499 runs in six matches in the Ambar Roy Memorial Tournament in 2006, with the highest score of 218 not out, used to shadow bat with a piece of wood that his family would use as a kheel to bar the door. “Debashish went on to play first division cricket for Eastern Railway. Others have got jobs because of their cricket background,” says Biswas.

Looks are deceptive: Heavily built and dark Biswas fits one’s idea of a stern taskmaster. But the children do not seem to think so. When a boy runs away with a hurried: “Sir, aashchi (Sir, I’m leaving)” after a match, he responds with a kind: “Esho baba”. The very next moment he points at a tall nattily dressed boy. “This boy also trains under me. But for him I’m just any coach. His bat costs Rs 15,000. But on the field there is no difference between him and the boy who plays with a borrowed bat that costs Rs 800.”

Uphill task: There have been hardships, he admits. Not all the children he wants to train have cooperative families. “Some very talented players have left even after I raised money for them to play.” He remembers the brothers Ajay and Bijoy Sharma, for whose father’s heart treatment he helped to raise money. “They didn’t continue playing,” he sighs.

He admits to clearly favouring the poor players over the well-off ones. “There are other coaches for these people. But these poor children who can’t even afford the bus-fare to travel to a tournament are my challenge. They understand where I come from. I was so poor I used to carry my cricket gear in two plastic bags. I couldn’t afford a kit bag,” he says.