Sahil Kukreja (left) with Rupesh Borade. Sahil Kukreja (left) with Rupesh Borade.

For the past four years, Rupesh Borade has been living in a children’s home in Mumbai with the trauma of having seen his mother being burnt alive by his father who went on to commit suicide.

Very soon, Borade will have much better memories to treasure for the rest of his life — those of his first air journey that will take him to England for a three-week cricket scholarship with Durham University.

What changed this 16-year-old’s life — like that of 31 others between the ages of 14-16 at the home in Chembur’s Anushakti Nagar — was a visit by Mumbai’s former opening batsman Sahil Kukreja in 2012 to mark his late father’s birth anniversary.

At the time, Kukreja says, it was barely a year since he’d retired from domestic cricket after a decent career, and was ready to move into his family’s flourishing real estate business. But he was left shaken by the stories of the children he met.

“It was in 2012 when I spotted some of the kids playing cricket with a broken bat and no shoes. Then and there, I decided to start a coaching camp for these underprivileged kids and try to give them a new lease of life,” Kukreja said.

Three years later, Kukreja is changing their lives — he is even getting help from his former teammates and current stars Abhishek Nayar, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma who have donated gear.

Today, 30 more children, in the 7-11 age group, are waiting in the wings. And recently, 11 of his wards made it to various age-group summer camps run by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) —- one of them, Sunil Verma, made it to the U-14 team.

In the city of Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, Kukreja doesn’t fancies himself as the next Ramakant Achrekar, their legendary coach. He has set modest goals for his campers – sports quota jobs.

Things are on track, says Kukreja. Two years ago, he ensured that Madhyamik Vidyalaya in Mankhurd, where the boys attend school, participated in the Harris Shield. The team lost in the second round in their debut season but this year, they went on to reach the Plate Group boys’ under-16 final.

What pushes Kukreja to spend more time and money at the academy, he says, is the gleam in the eyes of his students when the rocky ground gets patched up or when kits bags stuffed with brand new equipment is opened at nets.

“They really want to do well. Once, I asked them to keep jogging and went to the neighbouring building for some work. I returned 30 minutes later to see them still jogging with no shoes on,” Kukreja said.

What keeps him motivated, he says, are the chilling tales of children like Borade and his friend Nayeem Khan, whose mother abandoned him at the Vile Parle station when he was just six.

“Once, a kid ran away from the home, and travelled all the way to Kerala alone. He returned 15 days later. The warden wasn’t keen on me keeping him in the camp. But how could I deny a kid a chance to play? He’s just nine,” said Kukreja.

Then again, you can understand the 29-year-old coach’s connect with his wards when he talks of Borade’s trip to England.

“Rupesh has never boarded a flight before in his life. Three weeks in UK will not change his life forever. But back at the Children’s Home it will give the rest of the kids an added motivation, a new dream. And that’s what I am here to do,” he said.

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