CHENNAI: Aron ‘Ali’ Bacher is a South African cricketing legend, a name that is firmly etched in the country’s history. As a player, captain and longserving administrator, he made an impact both on and off the field. He led South Africa to a 4-0 Test series whitewash over Australia in 1969-70, during the Apartheid era, and later played a key role in helping more nonwhite cricketers get opportunities at the highest level.While his nephew Adam Bacher played Test cricket for South Africa in the late 1990s, now it’s Ali’s grandson Jarren’s turn to try and make a mark. The 22-year-old off-spinner is contracted with the Johannesburg Super Kings in the SA20 league and is currently at the Chennai Super Kings camp here as a net bowler.
Jarren initially began as a wicketkeeper-batter before shifting to off-break bowling. When asked who his role model, pat came the reply: “My hero is Ravi Ashwin since I was about 13. He’s a fighter. He never gives up. Some people say he plays the game quite hard, but I like that. He’s got this real never-give-up attitude, and I feel like batters fear him like they would a fast bowler. I enjoy that aspect of his game a lot. Unfortunately have not met him yet, but I hope that the opportunity comes,” Jarren, who hopes to play for CSK one day, told TOI on the sidelines of the 12th Pavit Singh Nayar Memorial T20 tournament at Guru Nanak College Ground on Saturday.Going back in time about his initial days as a cricketer, Jarren said: “I first took an interest in cricket because of my family. My dad (David) was a cricket coach and my uncle (Aaron Nickel) and grandfather (Ali) both played cricket professionally. And when I was about three, my dad started teaching me how to bat for the first time. My family never put too much pressure on me. They wanted me to figure out my love for the game by myself. And speaking for myself, the love for the game has always been there.”Jarren acknowledged that he wasn’t the “best cricketer for a very long time”. “I never played at high level while I was growing up at school. It was when I turned 17 that I decided I really want to make a career out of this. So then I decided to leave South Africa by myself and moved to England for four years and sacrificed a lot. My parents sacrificed a lot for me to give me the opportunity to develop my game. I trained as hard as I possibly could and when I felt I was ready to become a professional, I moved back to South Africa. And I took opportunities that were there for me,” Jarren said.
