The 17-year-old off-spinner from Chennai is leading wicket-taker in Quadrangular Under-19 series involving India, Sri Lanka, Australia and West Indies.
B Aparajith eats, breathes and sleeps cricket. Even though his parents are doctors, he has never been forced to take to syringes and scalpels. On the contrary, the 17-year-old’s family is just as keen to see him play for India.
The youngster is taking baby steps towards that dream. The all-rounder has been instrumental in taking India Under-19 to the final of the quadrangular series involving Australia, West Indies and Sri Lanka. With 21 wickets from six games (including two five-wicket hauls and a four-wicket show), the off-spinner is far ahead of his rivals in the list of top wicket-takers.
“I enjoy batting more,” Aparajith confessed. “Of course, I am an all-rounder and bowling is also my strength but I would call myself a batting all-rounder. Or, may be, I can chip in with both bat and ball. But I hardly got to bat in this tournament,” the teenage sensation told DNA from Vizag.
The Chennai-born cricketer said he is surprised with the returns. “No one expected (me to do so well so soon). I just struck to the basics and bowled the usual stuff. But it’s nice to get so many wickets,” added the off-spinner who, interestingly, adores left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori.
India U-19 coach Bharat Arun, too, is in awe of the youngster and calls him a “future prospect”. “He has an orthodox action and he imparts good flight. His strength is his arch delivery, the ball that comes in,” the former India cricketer opined.
Aparajith’s father Dr RN Baba, a cricket fanatic, always wanted his sons — Aparajith and Indrajith (they’re twins) — to play the game. Well, most Indian parents harbour such hopes, right? But Baba went ahead and set up pitches at home.
“Our parents always wanted us to become cricketers. We have astroturf and concrete wickets at home. However, we don’t live in that house anymore,” said Aparajith, who, along with his brother, was admitted to a cricket academy at the age of seven.
“Our parents never pressure us when it comes to studies. The school has also been supportive,” added Aparajith, who studies commerce. The youngster, who idolises Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, said he is enjoying his stint with India U-19.
“I can proudly say that India have many more skillful players than other teams (taking part in the tournament). Sri Lanka look competitive. However, I have learnt a lot playing these games,” he said, before adding, “My dream is to play for the senior team.”
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