Had it not been for captain Rajat Bhatia’s unavailability for Uttarakhand’s Ranji Trophy quarter-final, Avneesh Sudha would have either been resting at his home after plundering bagful of runs in the Cooch Behar (U-19) Trophy or headed to the Amenity Madan Lal Residential Cricket School in Haryana to prepare for the Cooch Behar knock-outs.
However, the 17-year-old from Rudrapur scored a fluent 91 against a potent attack to justify his call-up to the big league. Having plundered 883 runs in seven Cooch Behar matches, the teenager was high on confidence but the manner in which he countered Umesh Yadav was quite impressive.
The youngster hasn’t had it easy though. With Uttarakhand being nowhere in contention for a spot in the Ranji Trophy, the son of a farmer had no option to move away from home.
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“The family has been very supportive. After exploring a few options in Delhi, he thought the Haryana academy was the best option. It also gave me the opportunity to learn the nuances from Ranji regulars like Rajat Paliwal and Deepak Punia,” Sudha said.
Despite scoring heavily in local tournaments in Delhi and Haryana, Sudha was always considered as an outsider and was never selected for the age-group teams.
“It was tough to deal with but you had to take it into stride. Now I am happy that Uttarakhand has a team and all of us youngsters can focus only on the game,” he said.
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Despite missing out on a hundred on debut, Sudha has showed the glimpses of his talent. If he keeps his head on his shoulders, don't be surprised if he becomes a regular on the domestic circuit.