When Jammu and Kashmir beat Bengal by six wickets to qualify for his or her first-ever Ranji Trophy remaining, the victorious gamers hoisted head coach Ajay Sharma onto their shoulders. Chants of “bhaiyon mein bhai kaisa ho, Ajju bhai jaisa ho” resounded throughout the bottom in Kalyani. For a person who had spent fifteen years being erased — from cricket, from conversations, from his personal son’s profession — it was an unlikely place to be reborn: on the shoulders of younger males from Jammu and Kashmir, in a floor in Bengal, together with his title on their lips. Sharma, a battle-hardened Delhi cricketer who as soon as scored first-class a whole bunch with virtually embarrassing ease, may solely let the second wash over him.
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The journey from Ajay Sharma the cricketer-turned-coach to ‘Ajju bhai’, although, was something however easy.
“I might say that is the rebirth of Ajay Sharma,” the 61-year-old instructed The Indian Specific. Sidelined for fifteen years earlier than a Delhi courtroom cleared him of match-fixing expenses in 2014, Sharma’s redemption has unfolded in line with J&Okay cricket’s personal rise — from perennial also-rans to championship contenders.
The years of exile left their mark. “Due to the case, no person was taking my title. I attempted to assist Manan, my older son, play for India — however possibly due to his father, he confronted obstacles. Now I really feel I shouldn’t have pushed him in the direction of cricket. Those that by no means known as or messaged for therefore a few years are reaching out now. However I’ve no bitterness. I’ve solely gratitude for the love and belief these gamers have proven me.”
Jammu and Kashmir’s Vanshaj Sharma celebrates with teammates after successful the Ranji Trophy second semifinal cricket match between Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir, on the Bengal Cricket Academy Floor, in Kalyani, Nadia district, West Bengal, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (PTI Picture)
4 seasons in the past, Sharma was teaching the Delhi Beneath-19 facet when Mithun Manhas — now the BCCI president, then J&Okay’s Director of Cricket Operations — got here calling. The 2 return a great distance: Manhas made his Delhi debut underneath Sharma’s captaincy. However Sharma wasn’t .
“When you play for Delhi alongside Check cricketers, you are feeling you’re working at a distinct stage. In my enjoying days, we by no means thought of J&Okay a severe crew. I used to be on vacation in Thailand when Mithun known as. I really laughed — I had aspirations to be the Delhi senior coach,” Sharma remembers.
Manhas tried once more as the appliance deadline loomed. This time, one thing shifted. “I believed, why not. Mithun stated his dream was to see J&Okay do effectively in first-class cricket, and he promised his assist.” Sharma took the job.
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He virtually didn’t survive his first season. The gamers — weaned on IPL goals and T20 instincts — bristled at what they known as the ‘headmaster coach’. Within the written suggestions varieties, they described him as hot-headed; solely two or three of twenty gamers spoke in his favour. The administration took discover.
“Like when a strict trainer joins a category and the youngsters suppose isko bhagao yaha se — drive him away,” Sharma says, laughing now at what clearly stung on the time. “In my first camp in Srinagar, batsmen had been solely stepping out to hit sixes. I believed: the place do I begin?”
The turning level got here from an unlikely nook — his spouse. “She stated, most of them are youngsters youthful than our sons. Cease evaluating them to the established gamers you grew up with.” Manhas, too, urged him to melt his strategy. Sharma additionally sought counsel from Anil Gupta, a retired brigadier on a BCCI-appointed sub-committee. “I realised enjoying and training are two various things. My total basis modified.”
A tough-fought win over Vidarbha in Nagpur in December 2022 gave him early proof of the expertise round him. Persistence, he determined, was the one method ahead. It took practically two years, however the dressing room finally got here round. “The gamers began asking what it takes to win Ranji matches persistently. I may really feel the perspective shifting.”
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J&Okay’s two breakout seasons have had milestones of beating big-name groups at dwelling, and overturning Bengal at dwelling, completes their marching stomp into the ultimate (PTI Picture)
Accountability grew to become the cornerstone of that tradition. When Abdul Samad, one of many IPL’s most damaging hitters, threw his wicket away in opposition to Mumbai, Sharma dropped him for the following recreation in opposition to Baroda. “The message went out — if Abdul may be dropped, anybody may be.” He was cautious to again it with honesty. “I instructed him: I haven’t seen a cleaner hitter in 4 years of watching home cricket carefully. However you get criticised due to the way you get out. Your common is great — defend it.” Samad listened.
The backroom employees — bowling coach P Krishna Kumar and fielding coach Dishant Yagnik — pulled in the identical course. Away wins in opposition to Madhya Pradesh in Indore, Delhi in Delhi, and Mumbai in Mumbai introduced to the nation that J&Okay had been not a mushy contact.
Sharma has formalised his dedication to the state. A Dogra by beginning, he has surrendered his DDCA membership and change into a life member of JKCA with voting rights. “The gamers know I’m right here to remain.”
His personal path again had begun quietly in 2016, when he took voluntary retirement from the Central Warehousing Company, the place he had spent fifteen years as a basic supervisor. “I used to be sitting in an workplace and dealing for 15 years,” he says. A name from Ajay Yadav of the TN Memorial Belief’s cricket academy gave him his first correct teaching berth. “Once I joined, there have been about 35 youngsters. Simply earlier than Covid, that quantity had grown to 400.” He permits himself a second of dry humour. “I’m a BCCI Degree-2 licensed coach… simply in case individuals ask (laughs).”
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Now, on the eve of a Ranji remaining, he has one message for his gamers: “In case you win, it turns into a legacy. In case you end runners-up, individuals overlook you rapidly.”
On a floor in Kalyani, carried on the shoulders of the gamers who as soon as wished him gone, Ajay Sharma had already secured his. The rebirth, it seems, was full.