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Dubai-born all-rounder Macneil Noronha, who was picked by Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday for the rest of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season, would not have reached the world’s biggest T20 tournament if not for his father’s keen cricketing observation and his mother’s sacrifices.

Macneil was signed by the iconic IPL franchise for the base price of INR 3 million to replace their injured all-rounder Ramakrishna Ghosh.

The 24-year-old caught the Chennai selectors’ eye with his prolific scores in India’s domestic cricket, especially at the Under 23 level, where he scored two triple centuries against Tripura and Uttarakhand last season.

But long before he started grabbing attention in India, it was his father who spotted the talent in him during impromptu games of cricket in the backyard of their Dubai house.

“Before moving to Dubai, my husband (Marcel) played cricket at the university level in India. So he knows the game. When Macneil used to play with his friends, my husband saw the talent in him,” Helen Noronha, Macneil’s mother, told the Khaleej Times over the phone from Bengaluru.

That talent for clean ball-striking also impressed Sudhakar Shetty, the head coach in Dubai’s Max Talent Cricket Academy.

“I think he was only six or seven when Marcel and Helen brought him to our academy. He was always a good learner and a versatile player who connected the ball very well,” Shetty recalled.  

Macneil Noronha (right)

“His father had big dreams for him, and his mother dedicated her life to his cricket. That’s why she moved back to India with him for his cricket career.”

It was in 2016 — when Macneil was only 14 — that Helen decided to leave her job at Dubai Aluminium, so she could give her complete attention to his cricket.

“My husband and my daughter stayed back in Dubai, but I moved to Bengaluru with Macneil for his cricket,” Helen said.

“I moved because he was too small to adjust to life in India alone. My husband has a business in Dubai, so I decided to leave my job for Macneil’s cricket dreams.”

Initially, it wasn’t a bed of roses for Macneil in the highly competitive domestic cricket system of India.

“It was challenging, the competition was very tough,” Helen recalled.

“But my son was very focused on his game. He worked extremely hard, and eventually he got into the state team of Karnataka.”

Macneil not just played for Karnataka, he went on to win the BCCI Naman Award for being the highest scorer in the Col CK Nayudu Trophy, a premier Indian under-23 domestic tournament named after the first Test captain of India, CK Nayudu.

When Chennai Super Kings play Lucknow Super Giants on Friday with their playoff hopes still alive, Helen says she would not turn on the television even if Macneil, who also bowls off-spin, gets to make his IPL debut.

“I can’t watch him play, I get too nervous,” Helen said. “Maybe if he gets to play and reaches his half-century, then I will watch.”

For his father, Marcel, it was a ‘big relief’ to finally see him in the IPL.

“It’s a very emotional moment for us to see him in the IPL finally after all the hard work and sacrifices,” Marcel told the Khaleej Times.

“I have seen the talent in him from the day I first threw a plastic ball at him when he was a small child; he hit it so hard that I was stunned. That’s when I decided to send him to Max Talent Academy in Dubai.”

Macneil, who also completed his engineering degree, has built a formidable reputation in India’s domestic cricket with his powerful shot-making.

But Marcel says his son’s hard-hitting game was built on the grounds of Dubai and Sharjah.

“I always encouraged him to play the big shots and clear the boundary. What the coaches in India have seen now is his power-hitting, which was built here in the UAE at the Max Talent Academy and Desert Cubs Academy,” Marcel said.

But even more than the cricketer, Marcel is proud of the 'wonderful' person his son has become now.

The Noronha family 

“He has a heart of gold. He is the perfect team man. Even in a mix-up while batting, he would sacrifice his own wicket to save his partner — especially if that teammate might not get another chance in the playing XI,” Marcel said.

“I believe God has given him this IPL opportunity with Chennai Super Kings not just because of his cricketing talent, but because of who he is as a human being. He is a wonderful person.”

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