Prayas gears up to share dressing room with icon Kohli

For someone who dreamt to click a photo with his icon Virat Kohli, it was surreal when Prayas Ray Barman was picked for the Indian captain's franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore for a whopping Rs 1.5 crore at the IPL auction in Jaipur.

The 16-year-old leg-spinner, who was Bengal's top wicket-taker in his debut season in the Vijay Hazare Trophy never thought he would be picked at such a price.

"The feeling has not sunk in. But I'm getting a flood of calls, with several in waiting. Never expected I will be picked," Prayas told PTI.

"Like any other youngster in India, Virat is our role model. I always had a dream to click a photo with Kohli. I've tried a lot but did not get any opportunity. Now that I would be sharing the dressing room with my hero is just unbelievable," Prayas said.

"Sharing the dressing room, practising, interacting with the likes of Kohli, AB de Villiers on a day to day basis... It will be a big learning curve for me."
Giving full credit to his father Dr Kaushik Ray Barman, he said: "He always supported me and never went after me to pursue studies."
"My sister is an IT professional but I chose cricket. He gave me full freedom to pursue cricket. Now I'm excited to shift to Bangalore where my sister works."
Among the first to call him was his father from New Delhi and his advice was simple: "Your real achievement should be when you play for country. Money should never worry you."