Dedicates it to the memory of Late Prabhjot Singh
By Anjali Nauriyal
It sure was stuff dreams are made of! Cricket aficionados were treated to a historic moment, when Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran hit a century against Uttarakhand, his home state, on the first day of the Ranji Trophy match that was played in the stadium named after him by his father.
Abhimanyu Cricket Academy Stadium in Doon, came alive with jubilation as the star batsman ended up scoring 141 by the end of the day. This was the ground where his dreams were nurtured. This is where he honed his talent. And this is where he made his family proud on this memorable day. And interestingly he is yet to play an international match.
The century has come after a string of high scores, and the consistency is amazing. “In the last four innings, Abhimanyu managed 122 against Services in Vijay Hazare Trophy, 142 and 157 against Bangladesh ‘A’ and 170 against Nagaland,” stated his father Ranganathan Parameswaran Easwaran.
The young batsman dedicated his ton to the memory of Prabhjyot Singh, a close family friend who breathed his last a day earlier and was not in the stadium to watch his favorite child.
This gifted sportsman is now cruising towards his next milestone: 10,000 runs in first-class, List A and domestic T20 together.
Almost a decade ago he was well loved as a teen prodigy out to carve a niche for himself in the cricketing world.
His story began when he led his school The Asian School to victory in the Inter School Championships. Later he scored an unbeaten double century against the Bournvita Cricket Club. He led Ravindra Cricket Academy to victory in the second Suntan Youth Cricket Tournament. He toured England as member of the Turf Sports Management Club, Delhi in the under 16 and 19 category and was man of the series after having scored high in five of the eight matches. He toured Sri Lanka as member of the Darling Cricket Club where he was awarded Best Batsman of the tour.
Subsequently he was selected Captain of West Bengal Team. At the age of 15 years and 2 months Abhimanyu was selected captain of the West Bengal junior cricket team.
He was the young prodigy whose eyes were set on being member of the Indian Cricket Team.
And with his endless list of achievements, his talent and perseverance that day doesn’t seem far away. But until then all his preparations are intact. He has a battery of seven coaches who train him on the specific aspects of the most popular game in India, Cricket. He practices nine hours a day and uses Silicon Coach Software for training, something that is being used by the Indian team members.
His proud father RP Easwaran states that his son is totally focused on his game. “He started playing the game at the age of 7 and was spotted at 10 by Chetan Sharma when he was playing for the Tsunami Relief Match in Doon. He saw Abhimanyu practice and later encouraged him and made him play in Delhi. From then on Abhimanyu has been taking his game very seriously. “
Abhimanyu holds two world records: First for scoring four consecutive centuries on the same ground. He shares this record with Sir Donald Bradman and Vivian Richards. The second record was created when he was part of nine first class players who scored fifty in the same innings against Jharkhand last year in the quarter final of Ranji Trophy.
In his last five innings his scores were – 165, 170, 157, 141, 122. Sixth score was 82 not out in the second innings in Ranji being played at Doon.
Commenting on his Ranji performance this year, actor and MP Manoj Tiwary declared that he was in line for 6th consecutive century and was just one away from world record. Besides he would have scored a century in both innings for the third time.
