St. Bede’s sailed through the league phase, showed character in the semifinal and sizzled in the final of the Bhooma Teacher Memorial tournament for under-16 boys here.
Entering the climactic phase with comfortable wins, St. Bede’s faced a big hurdle in the form of St. John’s in the last-four stage. Though the latter was bowled out for 126, it refused to go down without a fight. “It was experience that took us through in that contest,” said Satyanarayana Rao, who coaches the side along with B. Arumugam. “We have quite a few State players in our ranks, and that proved helpful.”
Asked to compare cricket in South and North Madras, he said there was a “lot more professionalism” in the South, and added that North was growing too. For St. Bede’s, the stars of the semifinal win were off-spinner G. Viswanathan (six for 21) and opener S. Abhishiek (62). The latter said his gameplan was to “play the ball according to merit” and “be patient” since it was not a big target. The offie, on the other hand, said he “bowled normally on a good wicket.” “Since their batsmen were in a hurry to score runs, they went after me. That worked in my favour,” said Viswanathan.
Both of them idolise Sachin Tendulkar. While Abhishiek likes the master for his “way of batting” and “the straight drive”, Viswanathan loves him for his “discipline and perfection”.
Their career goal, too, is the same: to play for the country one day. The scores (final): DAV 136 in 36.4 overs (Krishna Rajan 55, Lokesh Raj three for 14) lost to St. Bede’s 137 for one in 17.1 overs (S. Abhishiek 54 n.o., Nidhish Rajagopal 53 n.o.). Man-of-the-series: S. Abhishiek.
