CHANDIGARH: Former state-level boxer Sunil Kumar had always dreamt of representing India. But lack of family’s support towards his passion led him to shelve his gloves at the age of 19. Two decades later, his son and Under-19 cricket World Cup winner Nishant Sindhu has fulfilled his father’s dreams in a sport that his father wasn’t very fond of.
Nishant, 17, amassed 140 runs and picked six wickets in the U-19 World Cup in the West Indies. His unbeaten half century in the final against the English colts has not only earned him accolades from across the nation, but could also be rewarded alongside his U-19 teammate Dinesh Bana with a place in the Haryana squad for the Ranji Trophy, the country’s premier senior domestic competition.
“This is indeed a proud moment not only for the family but the whole country, winning a World Cup of any age category is a big thing. And to be immediately picked in the Ranji team is certainly the icing on the cake for any budding cricketer. The Haryana Cricket Association and especially Anirudh Chaudhry (former BCCI treasurer) has been very supportive of all the youngsters,” Sunil told TOI on Sunday.
Kumar, who by his own admission wasn’t a cricket buff, was taken aback when his son came up to express his interest for the game after the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side lifted the ICC World Cup in 2011.
Kumar enrolled Nishant into Shri Ram Narain Cricket Academy in Rohtak, run by a former Haryana first-class cricketer and coach, Ashwani Kumar.
“Like all kids of his age, he used to watch cricket matches, even the highlights. It was in 2011 after the World Cup win, when he came up to me and expressed his interest in cricket. We always wanted him to be a sportsman, but cricket wasn’t in our minds. But from then, we made it a point that he must be dedicated to whatever sport he plays,” the 39-year-old Kumar recalled.
“He has worked very hard in his game, there were times when he was down, but me being a sportsperson myself, I always told him one thing, ‘there will be ups and downs in sport, you need to stay focussed’. The rest is in God’s hands,” he added.
Sindhu came to the limelight when he scored 290 runs and bagged 24 wickets for Haryana in the U-14 Dhruv Pandove Trophy held in Patiala in 2017. He was immediately fast-tracked into the Haryana U-16 team, and in the 2017-18 Vijay Merchant Trophy, he scored 280 runs and took 16 wickets.
He saved his best for the 2018-19 Vijay Merchant Trophy, where Sindhu amassed 572 runs and bagged 23 wickets. The Vijay Merchant Trophy success helped him get a call-up from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. Two years later, Sindhu marshalled his troops to the U-19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy triumph.
His success was rewarded when he was selected for the India U-19 squad for the Asia Cup and U-19 World Cup, and the rest as they say is history.
As Nishant boards the flight back home on Sunday evening, his mother Vandana is busy preparing Ghewar (a traditional sweet) to welcome her World Cup-winning son.
Nishant, 17, amassed 140 runs and picked six wickets in the U-19 World Cup in the West Indies. His unbeaten half century in the final against the English colts has not only earned him accolades from across the nation, but could also be rewarded alongside his U-19 teammate Dinesh Bana with a place in the Haryana squad for the Ranji Trophy, the country’s premier senior domestic competition.
“This is indeed a proud moment not only for the family but the whole country, winning a World Cup of any age category is a big thing. And to be immediately picked in the Ranji team is certainly the icing on the cake for any budding cricketer. The Haryana Cricket Association and especially Anirudh Chaudhry (former BCCI treasurer) has been very supportive of all the youngsters,” Sunil told TOI on Sunday.
Kumar, who by his own admission wasn’t a cricket buff, was taken aback when his son came up to express his interest for the game after the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side lifted the ICC World Cup in 2011.
Kumar enrolled Nishant into Shri Ram Narain Cricket Academy in Rohtak, run by a former Haryana first-class cricketer and coach, Ashwani Kumar.
“Like all kids of his age, he used to watch cricket matches, even the highlights. It was in 2011 after the World Cup win, when he came up to me and expressed his interest in cricket. We always wanted him to be a sportsman, but cricket wasn’t in our minds. But from then, we made it a point that he must be dedicated to whatever sport he plays,” the 39-year-old Kumar recalled.
“He has worked very hard in his game, there were times when he was down, but me being a sportsperson myself, I always told him one thing, ‘there will be ups and downs in sport, you need to stay focussed’. The rest is in God’s hands,” he added.
Sindhu came to the limelight when he scored 290 runs and bagged 24 wickets for Haryana in the U-14 Dhruv Pandove Trophy held in Patiala in 2017. He was immediately fast-tracked into the Haryana U-16 team, and in the 2017-18 Vijay Merchant Trophy, he scored 280 runs and took 16 wickets.
He saved his best for the 2018-19 Vijay Merchant Trophy, where Sindhu amassed 572 runs and bagged 23 wickets. The Vijay Merchant Trophy success helped him get a call-up from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. Two years later, Sindhu marshalled his troops to the U-19 Vinoo Mankad Trophy triumph.
His success was rewarded when he was selected for the India U-19 squad for the Asia Cup and U-19 World Cup, and the rest as they say is history.
As Nishant boards the flight back home on Sunday evening, his mother Vandana is busy preparing Ghewar (a traditional sweet) to welcome her World Cup-winning son.
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