For Chuanga Pachuau, 1996 was an annus mirabilis of sorts. As with many others, the bylanes of his hometown introduced him to cricket. — A game that he served for the rest of his life.
Chuanga was the president of the Cricket Association of Mizoram for 12 years. Beginning from 1999, and has a long list of achievements to his name. He introduced annual tournaments to the state. Such as the President’s Cup and, from 2010. Contests styled on the lines of the Indian Premier League Twenty20 professional cricket matches.
During Chuanga’s tenure, the state cricket association acquired a 25, 000-square meter plot. That was developed into a cricket ground on a par with international standards. “I was instrumental in liaising with the Public Works Department and the state and central governments in terms of project reports and funds. That translated into this ground,” he reminisces.
And that was not all. “After this, along with the secretary of the cricket association of The Indian Tribal Sports. I strived relentlessly for BCCI (the Board of Control for Cricket in India) affiliation, which finally came in 2018,” Chuanga shares.
During Chuanga’s 12-year tenure as President of the Cricket Association of Mizoram. The association acquired a 25, 000-square metre plot that was developed into a cricket ground on a par with international standards
Cricket wasn’t love at first sight, though. In his younger days, Chuanga played table tennis at the national level that comes under The Indian Tribal Sports.
It was a chance encounter with boys sniffing drugs on the streets of Aizawl in 1996 when Chuanga was 35 years old. That turned him to the Gentleman’s Game. It was not just drugs that the youths were addicted to — it was gully cricket too. Chuanga was serving as a youth leader in a church at the time. And seeing the boys’ interest in a legitimate pastime. Wasted no time in learning the rules of the game by closely following cricket matches on TV. He then established a local cricket club to help channelize. The energy of these juveniles into cricket and wean them away from substance abuse.
There was no looking back after that. Today, Chuanga is a household name for his immense contribution to Mizoram cricket.
