Amid mixed bag, Aneesh sees the bigger picture

Bengaluru: KV Aneesh hasn’t made it big yet, but he is likely to  at the rate at which he is going. 

Along this journey, he is likely to be misconstrued as arrogant, or a derivative of a similarly negative sentiment, because he is well-spoken and knows what he wants. 

There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance, and Aneesh is dancing on it. 

While these problems come with the territory, Aneesh knows not to spend too much time reflecting on things that he can’t control. Instead, the 22-year-old has learnt to remain in the zone. 

His ability to tune out the noise is in part because he had to carve out an identity for himself after moving to India when he was 13 years old.

He has also had to remain in that process for longer because he has had to stay true to a family which made large-scale sacrifices to ensure cricket becomes his career.

Father Kidambi Vasudevan, a businessman in Dubai, and mother Anuradha Vasudevan decided that Aneesh should give cricket a shot since he loved nothing more. 

Aneesh was born in Bengaluru but moved to Dubai early in his life as his family shifted to greener pastures. Thirteen years later, Vasudevan stayed back in Dubai. Anuradha moved to Bengaluru with a young boy in tow.

That young boy turned out to belt 922 runs, including five centuries and a double-century in the final, in six matches to hand Karnataka their maiden Col CK Nayudu Trophy title on Wednesday. 

He was so consistent in the CK Nayudu tournament that the senior Karnataka team reckoned they should give him a go. He got to bat in three out of the four games of his maiden first-class season, but didn’t live up to expectations. 

He had a couple of starts but couldn’t build on them, and then he returned to the Under-23 side for the semifinal and the final, and just like that the runs came back. 

“I trust my game, that’s all it comes down to,” a Bishop Cotton alumnus tells DH. “Whether it’s the CK Nayudu Trophy or Ranji Trophy, none of it matters once you’re out there and out to bat. I have the confidence that I will succeed and that’s what works for me.”

A facet that Aneesh has had to learn to find success, however, involves the team, not the individual. “I have learnt to put the team ahead of my performances which is why winning the CK Nayudu Trophy is bigger than my scores. That my scores helped is nice but that’s not so important,” he says.

Karnataka skipper Mayank Agarwal had plenty to offer on Aneesh, saying he was impressed with how level-headed and mature the young man looked.  He, however, hoped that he could stay the course because as far as the Indian opener is concerned, Aneesh has the skills to go beyond the State-team. 

“He’s a gun batter, and he finds it easy to adapt to situations and teams,” says Mayank. “From the time he came into the senior team, he looked like he belonged. He has a lot of confidence and that’s important, but he needs to ensure that translates to consistent runs.”

Aneesh’s coach Sudhindra Shinde reckoned his young ward what it takes to achieve that. 

“He’s very spiritually grounded,” says the former Karnataka player. “Many people think he is up in the clouds but he is’nt, he is very focussed. He works very hard on his game and his mindset, and the results are there for people to see. Trust me, he’s only getting started.”

Aneesh, without any such uncertainty, says: “I know!”