'One day I told him, if you want to be a cricketer with a long career, you cannot be a fast bowler.'
'I felt more than pace, unorthodox left arm spin would suit him better.'
'Please don't give me credit for what he is doing now. I only made a suggestion.'
We are going through a time when a person performs puja for his friend in a temple, the friendship is questioned, and they get categorised by their religion.
And the very simple and innocuous act results in controversy.
So, it is but natural that the friendship between two boys who happen to be neighbours also get bracketed.
But the friendship of Kannan and his Shareefettan goes beyond the rigid confines of religion which society prefers to put them in.
When 23-year-old Vignesh Puthur became an overnight sensation in IPL 2025 when he took three wickets in his very first IPL match against the Chennai Super Kings bowling left-arm unorthodox spin, the man the entire media in Kerala hunted was his childhood friend and mentor Muhammed Shareef.
"I feel I have been given undue importance when I haven't done anything. I told our coach also that when people should be talking to Sir, they want to talk to me," a perplexed Shareef tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.
Though Shareef played for the Under 19 Malappuram district team for close to four years, he chose to end his cricketing career to pursue a spiritual path.
Like most boys, Kannan and Shareef were passionate about playing cricket.
When we were children, all the boys in our neighbourhood used to play cricket.
Though the games we played changed with the season, cricket was the most liked game by all.
Kannan used to live close to the ground.
He was Kannan to everybody and only now, everybody is talking about him as Vignesh Puthur.
Though he was only 5 at that time, he used to join us in our cricket games.
He used to bowl medium pace but unlike other small children, he never used to throw the ball. He had a good bowling action then itself.
Making him change from medium pace to spin.
It is a fact that if you want to be a good fast bowler, you need to be strong and have a strong well-built body. For a long career in cricket as a fast bowler, you have to be strong.
But he was a small guy, not tall too.
So, one day I told him, if you want to be a cricketer with a long career, you cannot be a fast bowler.
On the other hand, there are very few bowlers who bowl left-arm leg spin.
I felt more than pace, unorthodox left arm spin would suit him better.
Please don't give me credit for what he is doing now. I only made a suggestion.
I also helped him with the technique by asking him to keep the ball between the middle finger and the ring finger, and then turn the ball using his ring finger. And it worked.
I have done only that much.
With practice, he mastered the technique and started bowling the Chinaman pretty well.
Taking Kannan to a cricket academy for coaching
Even though Kannan was only 10 or so, he started spinning the ball very well.
Because of my love for cricket, I was already going for coaching at P G Vijayakumar Sir's cricket academy on weekends.
Though I used to both bat and bowl, I was better as a medium pacer.
I wanted him to join the academy so that he could perfect the technique.
When I broached the subject to his father, he agreed immediately.
I knew he would be a good cricketer as he had the talent. But not even in my wildest dreams, did I imagine he would be so famous one day.
They only spoke about cricket.
Our passion was cricket and we only spoke about cricket and nothing else.
Family matters or politics or local issues were never part of our conversation.
It was only cricket, the techniques, cricketers and nothing else.
We used to share cricketing techniques all the time.
I do not know whether we had a hero at that time. I think Kannan had a hero at that time, Virat Kohli.
We were always told by our coach to learn from the way Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid played because they played copy book cricket.
We were instructed not to play like the big hitters, the unorthodox way of playing cricket.
Shareef moves from cricket to spirituality.
When we started, both of us dreamt of becoming professional cricketers.
At 15, I got selected for the Malappuram district Under-19 team and I played for the team for almost 4 years.
Four years were long enough for anyone to analyse one's own strengths and weaknesses.
I realised my performance was not good enough for me to go further up in my career as a cricketer.
That's the reason I decided to put an end to my cricketing dreams.
My prayers were for guidance to find something that would be as interesting as cricket.
After my studies, I became a khatib at the Darus Salam mosque in Kuzhippuram.
As a khatib, my job is to do sermons during the Friday prayers.
It is not that I have stopped playing cricket, I still play on weekends at the cricket club.
Vignesh continues his cricketing journey.
Professionally, we might have chosen diverse paths, but our friendship continues.
After playing for the Under 14 team, he got selected to join the Kerala Cricket Academy.
Though he has been sending applications to get into IPL, it happened only this year.
Vignesh picks up 3 wickets for Mumbai Indians in the first match!
The moment he got selected for the Mumbai Indians, he called me. Needless to say, he was very, very excited.
Because of Ramzan, I was not watching any of the IPL matches. So, I had no knowledge that he was playing his first match.
So, I didn't see him bowl.
When a friend of mine messaged me, Vignesh 1, I was a bit perplexed. Then came another message, Vignesh 2. I was still clueless when the third message came, Vignesh 3.
Then I checked online and found that he had taken three wickets!
IMAGE: Muhammed Shareef.
Thank you.. thank you, Shareefetta...
Of course, I sent him a congratulatory message immediately expressing my happiness!
I got his reply, an audio message, the next day morning. 'Sorry Shareefetta for the late message. Was very busy yesterday. Thank you, thank you...'
I don't think I have done anything great. Anybody in my place would have made such suggestions.
So many people have done such things in their lives. It is nothing to write home about.
In fact, I had forgotten about all that. Now, only when he reminded me, did I remember it.
I know how busy he might be now that he is playing the IPL. So, I don't plan to call him. It is not good to bother him. I know he will call me when he is free.
I know how it is when you are playing matches. I have experienced it when I was playing for a district Under 19 team. I can imagine how it will be for such a high-profile IPL match.
But when I started getting message after message on his success, I wondered why everybody is congratulating me when it was his success.
What have I done to get all this attention?
I feel I am getting credit for not doing anything.
I told our coach Vijayakumar Sir also that I don't deserve any credit, as it was he who coached him and did all the initial work.
When they meet again...
He will not be the same when he comes home.. He cannot be also..
Now, he belongs to the entire town and not to just the friends.
I have lots and lots of questions to ask him, and I want to know the A-Z of his experience...
But I will never be a source of annoyance to him because that will be cruel to him.
So, only when he is free to spend some time with me, we will meet.
I am only worried about how the same people would react if he failed in a match.
It is but natural that like in life, there will be ups and downs in cricket too.
I only want him to take successes and failures in the same spirit.
I am sure he will as he is generally a very calm and composed person.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
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