Smaran R was a naughty child and his parents decided to indulge him in some activity to discipline him.
“I would trouble my parents a lot as a kid. So they put me into cricket coaching,” remembers Smaran.
“We wanted him to be busy in some activity as he was a restless child at home,” reaffirms Smaran’s father, Ravichandran S.
Little did Smaran’s parents know their move would help nurture a fine cricketing talent. Smaran’s record, in recent times, has been staggering. The youngster has scored close to 2000 runs across various tournaments in the last four months. His impressive show has helped him leapfrog from the U-14 level to the U-19 State team in a matter of one year.
For someone who has developed the hunger to pile up big scores, Smaran’s early days with the sport were hardly encouraging. “I was seven years old when I began playing. I was an impatient batsman as I would throw away my wicket. It was only after I spoke to my coach Syed Zabiullah that I realised the importance of staying at the crease. I would like to thank Santosh Menon sir (KSCA Assistant Secretary), Prakash sir, my coach at Vultures Cricket club and my coaches Deepak Chougule, Ravi Kumar and Sunil Shankar for helping me grow as a batsman,” he says.
From a restless child, Smaran has now developed a monk-like concentration that has taken his batting to another level. Earlier this year, the southpaw slammed a century, a double hundred and one triple ton for Vulures Cricket Club in the U-16 KSCA inter-club tournament. “It just takes one ball to get out. So I try to focus hard for each ball. After I play one ball, I switch off and then focus again when the bowler begins his run-up,” explains Smaran, who thanks his mother Sunanda R for her constant support.
Leading the U-16 State team, Smaran continued to shine. The youngster slammed a fighting unbeaten 167 against Andhra and then followed it up with a 203 not out against Goa and an unbeaten 150 against Puducherry. This marauding run helped him impress the Karnataka U-19 selectors.
Even as he enjoys a great phase, Smaran is aware that any good period will be followed by a bad phase.
“I don’t fear failure but I know that every sportsperson undergoes a rough patch. If I struggle to score, I am confident of starting from the scratch and performing well again,” says Smaran, a Grade X student of Ebenezer International School.
“Smaran has a long way to go and we believe he won’t let success get into his head,” says Ravichandran, an Associate General Manager at Schneider Electric.
