Another small town star story? Maybe more grim.

“Some days our family had to manage on just plain rice. We couldn’t afford anything else. I was scared we may one day be out on the streets, begging,” says Veragi.

Those hand-to-mouth days ended a year ago, after Veragi’s elder brother got a job in Saudi Arabia. And after Veragi’s Rs 1.5 lakh earning from the four-day cricketing assignment in Indore, Tankariya will have a new neo-rich addition on the social scene. “It just makes me laugh when I compare my previous and present pay packets. What I couldn’t dream of getting in years back home, now I make from four days of cricket,” says Veragi.

Travelling to Vadodara meant Veragi had to spend Rs 50. He learnt to drive a tractor. “Late at night I used to plough the fields for land owners. At times I used to contribute some money for the family’s monthly budget and the rest was for my cricket trips to Vadodara,” he says.

In case he had planned an evening practice session, Veragi used to leave home early in the morning. “I used to leave Tankariya early morning to catch the only train to Vadodara that was at 10:30 am. I used to reach the ground by 3 pm,” he says.

The trip back home was tougher. “Once there was heavy rainfall and all trains got cancelled. I had to sleep at the Vadodara station as I don’t have any relatives in the city. Even if the train was delayed by a few hours, I reached home at around midnight,” he recalls.

He got his first break when he was picked for the Baroda u-22 squad and 19 wickets there gave him a place in the Ranji squad. “Before my graduation to the Baroda senior squad, my parents were not convinced that one could earn a livelihood through cricket. ‘Learn some skills for a job’ they would say.”

Once things got so bad that Veragi’s mother threw away his shoes and cricketing whites. Today the village boy can laugh about that. “It really hurt me. But those are things of the past,” he says.

Veragi’s Ranji debut wasn’t phenomenal, as he took just two wickets — Delhi’s Aakash Chopra and Mitthun Manhas. But the general opinion in Indore was that one hasn’t seen the last of the man from Tankariya. He isn’t an outright quick, but he can move the ball either way. It remains to be seen if Tankariya goes on to become as famous as another village in Bharuch district Ikhar.

That happens to be the village Munaf Patel hails from.