His father would continue selling milk door to door as usual, with added pride now. His mother would continue taking care of household like any other day, with dreams of  days to change soon. His younger sister would continue her classes as a student of class-XI in a school in Upper Bazaar area, with a fresh recognition as sister of a celebrity. And his elder sister might get blessings of more unknown faces in her wedding scheduled in coming April. But life of 16-year old city boy Pankaj Yadav is certainly going to be more difficult now onwards with  extended practice sessions and more sweating on grounds after his name appeared in Under-19 Cricket World Cup-2018 squad for New Zealand which would commence in January next year.

But seeing his son going for practice and finding him deeply buried with balls, and often with bats too, was not always pleasing for amateur Bhojpuri Bhajan singer and milkman Chandradev Yadav who could hardly manage feeding his family of five with selling milk door to door. “No father with meager income like mine would ever see his son’s career venturing into uncertainty. I was also not ready to see it. Many times I appeared harsh like any other father, especially on the occasions when his cricket love overshadowed his academic performances,” said Yadav on Monday amid welcoming well-wishers who flooded in his house, many with sweets packet in their hands and many others asking for it.

But things changed when he was first selected in Under-14 District Cricket team in 2014 and then State team in the same age group. “As he started playing for Under-16 State team somewhere and emerged as the highest wicket taker in 2016 which he retained in 2017 also, I had to change my perception about him,” said Yadav.

For Pankaj, all harshness of father and academic results were just a matter of time. “I knew my day would come.

Though I haven’t dreamt anything as big as becoming leader of Indian Cricket team yet, I used to see one among them sooner. And I am happy that dawn of my day has appeared,” said a die-hard Australian Spinner Shane Warne fan Pankaj Yadav who was extremely hopeful of being selected in playing-XI in New Zealand keeping his expertise as a spin bowler in mind.

“No one can stop someone having confidence in himself, and I saw that confidence and love for cricket in his eyes the day he came in my Academy. Interestingly, he was not willing to become a batsman like many others. He only wanted to play cricket and this is something not usual with those aspiring to become a cricket player. I knew his father can’t afford many things, hence I supported him.

However, his father sold some cows to see Pankaj playing cricket once he started performing. Now I can say selling cows for cricket kit was not a bad exchange for his father,” said BAU Blasters Coach Yukti Nath Jha on Monday whose lessons earned Pankaj a seat in 15-member Under-19 Indian Cricket team being mentored by Rahul Dravid, famously known as the Wall of Indian Cricket.