Raju Das, a successful cricketer of Barak Valley. How he turned up to be a delivery boy in gas agency ?

- By Swarup Choudhury and Moupriya Dev.

Cricket, the most loved sport in India that needs no introduction, is a sport that unites India amidst all diversity. Every person has an opinion on this game. Indians always seem to find a way out of their busiest routines to view India in live-action. Cricket is much like a religion, and the cricketers are not less than God themselves. Hockey is the national game of India, but how often do we hear about it? The spectacular victory of India in the 1983 world cup lead to this obsession. India's craze for cricket took the shine out of every other sport. Cricket is a big-budget game, and the professional players get paid hefty amounts for being on the field. But is that the story of every cricketer or just the ones on the national team?

Reality check: many cricketers across  India face financial instability even after giving it their everything.

One such cricketer is Raju Das of Barak Valley. Raju Das is a star cricketer of Assam who hails from Silchar. Raju has represented the state cricket team of Assam in different age groups on several occasions. But he is not worshipped by the cricket-crazed audience of Assam, and neither he gets paid an enormous amount of money to sustain. Raju tried to score a government job from the sports quota but didn't get any. His financial circumstances were not well before the pandemic and during the pandemic, it slumped. It leads him to work as a delivery boy for a gas agency to take care of his family. 

Raju Das, who is a very fine right-handed batsman, started his career in cricket with interschool cricket in the Baidyanath Nath School Cricket. He played for The Public School and quickly gained popularity in the locality. Raju played for Mandir Dighirpar Club in Bilpar in the third division league and debuted in Division Cricket. In the very beginning of his career, he played for the Ganasur Club. He became a force to reckon with, as he kept going further and further conquering one after another milestone. He got into the teams of the second division and the first division and gradually, established himself as a regular player of the district team and is consistently seen on the home grounds of Silchar. After playing in an exposure tour in Ghaziabad in 2002-03 season with Assam Under-15 team he got called up but he failed the medical tests. But it didn't stop him. He played for Assam in the Under-17 team, Under-18 team, Under-19 team and the Under-23 team as well. He played twice in Vijay Merchant Trophy, also played in Veenu Mankad and Coochbehar Trophies.

He accomplished so much but was still unable to get a government job. The financial instability in Das's life did not come from a lack of jobs because he could always opt for private-sector jobs. But, the private sector would not make him an exception and give him extra time to be able to play cricket. So, he always had two options: he could seek a job in the private sector and end his economic depression or choose cricket and struggle with money. 

Raju Das chose cricket and is struggling without any complaint.
Das can't give up cricket, so when his friend Shibojyoti Roy, the son of the head of the agency, arranged a job for him and he quickly took it. He started working as a delivery boy in Roshni Gas Agency as of now. 

 Raju Das says he is happy with whatever amount of money he earns as long as he can play cricket. His love for cricket is beyond belief. His dreams to qualify for Ranji Trophy. Although, the pandemic does not allow him to go out much. He is working on his physic and waiting for his to arrive.