India, Aug. 28 -- Almost 28 years ago, a young pace bowler from Saharanpur, Akram Saifi went through the paces to make it to the Uttar Pradesh team for Under-16 board trophy matches in the 1997-98 season, but all his efforts went in vain even after making the cut to the final round.

That disappointment forced Akram to shift his base to Chandigarh to hone his skills under the very eyes of Yograj Singh, an ex-India cricketer. This paid rich dividends as he played up to the university level, but his dream was always to play for his own state in domestic trophies.

Even after coming back home to Saharanpur, Saifi kept his dreams alive, this time for his son Ayaan Saifi. Ayaan first impressed in the Under-16 cricket with 25 wickets and 200 ru...