da realbet： One does not often come across someone as humble as Sridharan Sriram
Santhosh S25-Nov-2001One does not often come across someone as humble as Sridharan Sriram.A conversation with this diminutive opening batsman leaves you with anoverwhelming feeling of simplicity. Perhaps it is exactly that qualitythat makes him speak freely while talking to CricInfo after making anexcellent century for Board President’s XI against England in thethree-day match at Hyderabad.In his innings, Sriram was very sluggish to start with, especiallyafter losing his opening partner Wasim Jaffer for a golden duck. Therewere even a few English journalists who asked the CricInfocorrespondent if Sriram was always as boring. But, after taking histime to get to his fifty, he blossomed to play an entertaining knock,forcing those same journalists to eat their words.The batsman went on to make 149, pressing his claims for the opener’sslot in the national side. It was an innings of determination andcharacter, which would not have missed the attention of the selectorsassembled in Hyderabad.Sriram is a 25-year-old opening batsman from Tamil Nadu who hasrepresented India in a few one-day internationals. He was a recepientof the Border-Gavaskar scholarship and spent some time in theCommonwealth Bank Cricket Academy in Adelaide, along with Shiv SunderDas and Mohammad. Kaif.Sriram is a brilliant fielder and an able left-arm spinner. He has nowbeen working again on his bowling after neglecting it for a few years.Sriram had a successful tour of the West Indies with the India `A’side a few years ago, sharing honours with Murali Kartik and RahulSanghvi. Starting cricket as a left-arm spinner, Sriram would be animmense addition to Indian cricket if he can develop into an able allrounder.In an exclusive interview to CricInfo, Sriram talked about his battingin the middle and a few other aspects of the game.On the time he spent in Adelaide:It is without doubt one of the the best times I have ever had. Ilearnt a lot about the importance of fitness and how to stay fit. Newconcepts about training and weight-training were taught, from which Ihave benefited a lot. We trained indoors most of the time, as it wasin the middle of the southern winter, and I learned to play shortpitched bowling. What I was most impressed by was the attitude of theAustralians towards the game.On his knock against England:I was very nervous to start with. I just wanted to hang in there aslong as possible and found out that the ball was not coming on to thebat. Initially I went through a phase when I was not timing the ballat all. I just told myself that things were going to change, to spendmore time, so that my timing would come back.On the prospect of playing for India in Tests:Frankly it was never in my mind when I went in to bat; I just had tofocus on my job. You can’t keep thinking about playing for India andlose out on the present. I told myself that I’ll see what I can todayand let tomorrow take care of itself.On the English bowling attack:I watched Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick in action in Sri Lanka, insimilar conditions, and they bowled very well to provide earlybreakthroughs. Later on, Ashley Giles and Robert Croft got thewickets. Giles is supposed to be the number one spinner in England,but I didn’t get to have a look at him. Martyn Ball bowled wellinitially, but lost his length later on. Craig White was bowling offcutters today, the wicket was such; you just can’t help it.”On his form this domestic season:Getting hundreds is a habit that I had lost for some six to eightmonths. The Gopalan Trophy century was an international hundred, allsaid and done; it made me believe that I can score runs at theinternational level.On Tamil Nadu skipper Robin Singh:Frankly, I am a great admirer of Robin; at this age, he is far morefitter than all of us. It makes me ashamed of myself too. The amountof training and hard work he puts in is amazing. He is the role modelfor all young cricketers. You may name Sachin Tendulkar and all other names,but if someone has played for India just on sheer merit and hard work,it is Robin Singh. We are all proud that he is from Tamil Nadu.Sriram must surely figure in the selectors’ shortlist of openers. Theyoungster might have a long way to go to get to the top, but he isheading in the right direction.