For Balachander Anirudh, the leading scorer in All India Cooch Behar Trophy with 1,050 runs in the just concluded season, it was a forgetful experience.
The 19-year-old young batting talent from St. John’s Coaching Foundation was named by the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) a couple of days ago as one of the under-19 players picked for the BCCI Zonal Academy training in Chennai.
But, much to his shock, he has been informed now that those who cross the under-19 age group next year will not be eligible for the above camp. It’s a clear case of HCA failing to get the rules right before naming the players from the city for the zonal academy, rue former players, wishing to remain anonymous.
Anirudh seems to have taken things in his stride. “I have a bigger and immediate goal – to make it to the Ranji Trophy squad,” he is confident. Anirudh made the Foundation his ‘second’ home after his father’s transfer.
He has scored scoring 232 against Railways, 167 against Andhra and 137 against J & K in the Cooch Behar Trophy (under-19) in the just concluded season. “The BCCI specialists camp in Mumbai a couple of years ago under the guidance of coach Lalchand Rajput was a huge learning curve,” said the B. Com student of SP College.
“He is mentally strong and has the ability to focus for hours,” attests mentor and coach John Manoj.
