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13 In conversation with Sufiyan Siraj, U/16 PCB Cricketer Q. Tell us something about yourself? A. My name is Sufyan Siraj. My hometown is in Rawalpindi. My father is named Siraj. I have five brothers and I am from Faisal Club. Q. How did you come to know about the PCB scholarship A. I found out about the PCB scholarship from our club. The coaches there retain the ones who play well and we have matches at the city and inter-city level. Through these matches I was chosen for trials at PCB. Later, when I was selected in the PCB trials too, I was then sent to Aitchison College as PCB’s scholarship student. Q. Is being good at a certain sport a natural ability or a skill that one may attain through practice? A. It was fairly natural for me. Ever since a tender age, I was playing cricket and eventually my father enrolled me into a club. However, I do believe that a child could reach a high level through hard-work alone, but it won’t be wrong to say, that a naturally talented bot has an easier time grasping the sport. Q. How did you feel when you first stepped inside Aitchison? I liked Aitchison from the beginning. Here, we had good coaches, good fields and boarding facilities. When I first stepped in here, I was amazed at the size of the buildings and grounds in the College! Q. How’s it to live in a boarding school? A. It’s been great, everything is on time and disciplined. We get up on time and head to sleep on time and get our meals on time! I also love the experience of living with my friends; I do still miss my parents as well, however I understand that I must fulfill my education and duties here at Aitchison College. Q. While settling down and familiarizing with the atmosphere in Aitchison, what helped you the most? While settling into Saigol House, my friends, including Zunair Shahid and Ali Hamza, who had also received PHF scholarships, were notable help. We had a similar atmosphere back at our hometowns, so it was easier to open up. Sir Ahmad Ozaif too was great in helping me adapt to the surroundings, especially during the initial days, when I would feel upset and home-sick. Q. On your way to PCB, were there any difficulties that you had to face? What were they? A. The difficulty was that there were many amazing players and from among them only the best of the best were nominated. I feared that perhaps I may not get selected at all, since coach at our cricket coaching club was not a professional player, which is why we only got a taste of pro-cricket after being coached by coaches from Zimbabwe and South Africa. Likewise, the club was far away from my house, so I was stuck in a tight schedule where I had to go to school, then come back home and later rush to my cricket ground. Although, there were rarely any financial problems along the way, as they were solved by local sponsors who recognized my talent and potential. Q. Was there someone who stood by your side throughout these days? A. Above all, it was my parents and my hardworking coach who stood by my side throughout all the trials and tribulations, before my selection into the PCB team.