Local League: Hari Nishaanth strives for consistency

Taking cue from his Trotters team-mate and India player MS Washington Sundar, the 21-yearold native of Coimbatore has put in a concerted effort at working on his off-spin bowling in a bid to become an all-rounder.

“Globe Trotters is my third team in the TNCA First Division. Before moving here, I played for UFCC (T Nagar) and Vijay CC. I got chosen for Vijay CC in the U-19 player category and in my first season there, I had the chance to play in all of its matches. To get to play with some established names was a big motivation for me and I benefitted a lot from my stint there,” said the southpaw. He was introduced to cricket in his second standard by his sports-loving father in Coimbatore. 

Besides his father, Nishaanth credits his two coaches Guruswamy and Vinoth for instilling a strong work-ethic in him at a tender age. When in Coimbatore, Nishaanth makes it a point to consult those two and discuss the various aspects of the game he needs to work on. Nishaanth, who is known to grind the bowlers out in the longer formats by playing risk-free shots, says he is ready to don the aggressor role in the other two formats. 

“I attach a lot of importance to occupation of crease. But in this age of T20 cricket, one has to be ready to accelerate from the beginning. I was found wanting in that aspect in the first two editions of the Tamil Nadu Premier League where I played for VB Thiruvallur Veerans. It taught me a few valuable lessons on how to go about batting in T20s,” added Nishaanth, who is a big admirer of Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh. 

His switch to Globe Trotters has enabled him to take steps towards becoming a more well-rounded player. And he is thankful to the seasoned Trotters player X Thalaivan Sargunam and coach M Senthilnathan for taking him under their wing. “At Trotters, I get the chance to play without any inhibitions or fear of failure. And seeing how Washington has evolved into a promising all-rounder, I too started rolling my arm over and hopefully my hard work will pay me dividends,” remarked Nishaanth.

There is no end to Tamil Nadu U-23 women’s team’s woes as it once again ended up losing to Karnataka in the BCCI T20 South Zone League on Wednesday. 

After dismissing Tamil Nadu for a measly total of 53 in 18.5 overs, Karnataka inflicted a 10-wicket drubbing on the hapless TN outfit that is yet to register a single win in this tournament. 

TN’s S Anusha contributed 24 of her team’s total of 53. Karnataka captain G Divya finished with impressive figures of four for five while Monica C Patel and Rameshwari shared identical figures of two for 10 each. C Prathyusha picked two wickets for 12 runs. Karnataka barely broke a sweat in reaching the target as captain led from the front scoring a quick 42 not out as her team chased the target in 7.2 overs.

Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 53 in 18.5 overs (S Anusha 24, G Divya 4/5, Monica C Patel 2/10, Rameshwari 2/10, C Prathyusha 2/12) lost to Karnataka 55 for no loss in 7.2 overs (G Divya 42*). Points:  Karnataka 4 (8); Tamil Nadu 0 (0).