Imtiaz Ahmed/Guwahati

He shared the dressing rooms with Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, and Debashish Mohanty. He was a hotel roommate of MS Dhoni. He knocked at the door of Team India throughout his career, but always missed his entry by a whisker. Javed Zaman even made the cut to junior Team India, but possibly missed the guidance, facilities, and probably the much-needed organizational support to take himself to the next level, i.e., Team India.

Having represented Assam and Railways for over one and a half decades, Zaman, one of the few immensely talented cricketers of Assam, believes he would have certainly made the cut had he got the exposure by playing from other parts of the country. The Guwahati-based paceman, who hails from the Dhubri town of western Assam, also considers himself unfortunate to have missed the media limelight that the cricketers enjoy these days.

Javed zaman with M S Dhoni

“I don’t want to blame myself or anybody for failing to make it to Team India. Unlike the cutthroat competition and the reign of performance of these days, it was easier those days to make it to Team India. But, the problem in those days was to draw the attention of the selectors, primarily due to the lack of media exposure. And, I believe, I was one of those who missed out on the media exposure factor, because fast bowlers who delivered less than me in the domestic circuit had got selected,” Zaman told Awaz– the Voice.

It was, of course, for Javed Zaman that Assam’s strongest voice so far as a selector, Girin Baruah, refused to sign the Indian team where Zaman was named as a stand-by despite being the second-highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy across the country and lesser performers at that moment were in the team. The BCCI served a show-cause notice on Baruah for it. No other selector from Assam or East Zone could have ever vouched for any other player from Assam as Baruah did for Zaman.

Javed Zaman with Mohammad Azharuddin

Zaman hails from a sporting family in western Assam’s Dhubri town, took up the willow and the cherry from a tender age at a club based at his own residence. Making his club cricket debut in the Dhubri district league in 1985, when Dhubri used to be a strong cricket-playing district of Assam, he started representing the state in 1990 as an under-16 colt. He was invited for a three-year advanced coaching drill at the Pace Bowlers’ Academy in Chandigarh under the tutelage of Kapil Dev, Chetan Sharma, Yograj Singh, and others.

It did not take long for the talented pacer to make it to the Ranji Trophy in 1991. Turning out for the first time in the under-19 age group in 1991, Zaman scripted records of emerging the highest wicket-taker in East Zone as well as taking four wickets off four consecutive balls against Bengal and others to draw the attention of the selectors to be picked up for the Ranji Trophy team the same year. His onslaught against Bengal continued in Ranji Trophy too, having claimed seven wickets in a match to wrap up the season with 24 wickets.

Javed Zaman with VVS Laxman

The outstanding feat in the previous season counted for Zaman’s selection in India's junior team in 1992 to play in three Tests against Australia and continued to be a junior India mainstay till 1994; a period when he lost his father who used to be unstinted supported all along. He got the Wills Trophy, Deodhar Trophy and Duleep Trophy calls from 1994-96 before turning out for his employer Railways from 1996 to 99. His return to Assam helped Zaman regain his East Zone team berth as well as the Wills Trophy and he managed to impress upon the selectors to pick him up for India A.

Javed zaman with Syed Zakaria Zufri, Coaches for Railway

It was during his stint with Railways when his mother passed away. After skipping a match, Zaman returned to the green to haul nine wickets in a match against Tamil Nadu in Chennai.

About his playing experience alongside outstation professionals for Assam, Zaman said he enjoyed the most with Chandrakant Pandit, J Arunkumar, Amol Mujumdar, Sukhwinder Singh and others. “I learnt the most during my Duleep Trophy outings where we rubbed shoulders with the top rung players of the country. Players like Sourav Ganguly used to guide us at the nets as well as during the matches. Those are invaluable learnings,” he said.

Presently a coach with the Railways Ranji team, Zaman said: “Assam still lags far behind to be successful in cricket. Like our days, it is still half a year of cricket in the state. Despite indoor facilities coming up, the attitude of most of our players is still unchanged. After all, one should be aware that cricket is no longer a game of the drier days of the year.”

Javed Zaman with his family

About his playing experience alongside outstation professionals for Assam, Zaman said he enjoyed the most with Chandrakant Pandit, J Arunkumar, Amol Mujumdar, Sukhwinder Singh, and others. “I learned the most during my Duleep Trophy outings where we rubbed shoulders with the top rung players of the country. Players like Sourav Ganguly used to guide us at the nets as well as during the matches. Those are invaluable learnings,” he said.

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Presently a coach with the Railways Ranji team, Zaman said: “Assam still lags far behind to be successful in cricket. As our days, it is still half a year of cricket in the state. Despite indoor facilities coming up, the attitude of most of our players is still unchanged. After all, one should be aware that cricket is no longer a game of the drier days of the year.”