Success is aptly compared to an iceberg. While the fame it brings is evident, the rigours of self-discipline, training and application remain hidden. Having played Test cricket at 21 for a team crowded with batting heavyweights, Abhinav Mukund is today the envy of many. But few realise the glory has come at a price.
Abhinav has played age group, league, Twenty20, First Class and Test cricket in the last nine years. His days crammed with cricket schedules, he has been deprived of the typical diversions of childhood and adolescence. That's not all. The sport has often come in the way of family get-togethers. “Travelling for cricket, I have celebrated my birthday away from home many a time,” reveals the left-hand batsman.
Separation from family on such occasions hurt little Abhinav, but he was too fascinated with cricket to brood over them. Few things are dearer than cricket and if he were to live his childhood all over again, Abhinav would live it the same way.
As a member of a family that is closely associated with cricket, Abhinav had an early initiation into the sport. He did not have to look beyond his parents for expert advice – his father T.S. Mukund played league cricket and his mother Lakshmi Mukund, university cricket. “My dad has had the greatest influence on me. When he went to play cricket, I would tag along. It's from him I have learnt what it means to stay strong when things go wrong, to have self-belief and to develop a sound technique.” Cricket-playing uncles complete the picture of a family that worships the game. Many in the family moved in cricket circles.
As a result, Abhinav saw cricket greats at close quarters. He treasures an autograph he received from Rahul Dravid in the 1990s. “Watching the doyens of the game gave me a desire to emulate them,” recalls Abhinav. “I made up my mind early to become a cricketer.”
As a nine-year-old, he began to play for his school team and his irrepressible talent quickly forced him on to a bigger theatre of the sport. He captained the Tamil Nadu team in the under-13 and under-15 tournaments, scoring 192 in his very first match in the under-13 category. He was 12 then and the captain of the team. “An unforgettable knock, it came against Goa at Bangalore in a South Zone U-13 match. It was a quick-fire century and it helped me see myself as a batsman who can build an innings.” He was miles ahead of children his age – when only 14 years old, he represented the State in under-17 and under-19 cricket. Training with the National Cricket Academy for three years – from 2004 to 2007 – he proved his willingness to put himself through the grindstone.
Against this backdrop, cricket became a reference point of everything he did. Major decisions were taken keeping his cricket ambitions in sight. He left a CBSE school and joined St. Bede's because the latter had a bigger cricket ground and a tradition of promoting sports. His days as a college student fled past in a blur of drives, hooks and leg-breaks. Not surprising that he has very few memories of hanging out with college mates. His Tamil Nadu teammates have filled in for them. As if on cue, Dinesh Karthik, who walks past, asks Abhinav, “When are you free?” “In another 20 minutes,” is the reply. Abhinav explains, “Dinesh and I hang out a lot together.” When Abhinav goes through the photo shoot, Tamil Nadu captain Lakshmipathy Balaji darts a smile at him.
Abhinav also enjoys the time that he spends by himself. “I am more of a home-bound person. Playstation 3 is an indispensable part of my leisure. I enjoy being curled up on a sofa with a thriller-novel: my taste is eclectic and I can't name any favourite authors. My interest in films borders on an addiction – I have an external hard disk that is packed with 600 movies.”
Abhinav does not see himself as a techie, and can't explain his fascination for gadgets. He is also bitten by wanderlust and frequently zips down the East Coast Road in his Honda Jazz. These lonely drives charge him.
Is he just as comfortable when the spotlight is on him? “It will be a blatant lie if I say I resent attention. At the same time, too much of it makes me squirm,” he says. “No matter how much someone has achieved, he should know how to deal with fame. You need to understand the dynamics of fame.” Abhinav believes fame is the result of what someone did before he was famous – and that it's better to keep at it.
