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For this little BIG man, his willow talks
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Nihal Unni is not a teenager yet, but his batting prowess is already making waves in the junior cricket circles
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Nihal Unni: great batting for someone so young.
A REMOTE in hand, Nihal Unni can never let go off Nickelodeon and WWF. Understandable.
The 12-year-old needs his quota of chilling out especially after a strenuous day that starts in the wee hours! To be precise, 5.
His daily routine is an exhausting and exhilarating mix of nets, mainly batting, at times gentle medium pace, huffing and puffing to Frank Antony Public School. More nets in the evening, homework, and then the good old television.
And it paid off! The gawky lad notched a whopping aggregate of 680 runs, opening the innings for President's XI in six matches of the KSCA Inter-Zonal Under-13 tournament that concluded here recently.
Aptly, he was named as the "batsman of the tournament" and the acme was his centuries, 158 and 128, in the final against Raichur Zone. "Those knocks were the best for the simple reason that Raichur had the best attack in the tournament," says Nihal, with a startling maturity that belies his age. The accolades have not stopped yet and Karnataka junior teams' coach Rajesh Kamat, who also guides Nihal, is effusive in his praise. "The boy (Nihal) is good. He has a very good temperament and at his age to score 680 odd runs is not a joke. Even senior players struggle to get that kind of an aggregate," Kamat says. A cautionary tone however lingers when Kamat says, "but then he is very young, things can change but right now he is among the best in junior cricket".
The vagaries of growing up are something that has often derailed many a promising schoolboy cricketer from emerging as a full-blown talent. For every Sachin Tendulkar, there are countless unnamed cricketers who pack their dreams in a kitbag and trudge back home, desolate and lonely.
It is a fact that rankles Nihal's father Sajith Unni. "I have told him (Nihal) not to think too much about the long term goals. All I want him to do is to correctly respond to each and every ball he faces, otherwise he will soon be back in the pavilion. As he grows up, the pyramid gets narrower and competition will get intense even his academics will get tough. It needs an enormous amount of talent to survive. Hats off to players like Robin Uthappa, who have sustained themselves and broken into the bigger league," says Sajith.
It is obvious that unlike many players in his age group, Nihal has no parental pressure breathing down his neck to perform.
"I thank my Dad for his encouragement and the Karnataka State Cricket Association for letting me compete in two-day and three-day tournaments which at my age-group is a big help," says a grateful Nihal.
Nihal's cricketing dreams took shape in Dubai in 1999, where he lived with his parents and younger brother until early 2002.
"I used to watch the World Cup in England on TV and I was attracted to the game, especially Tendulkar. He is my hero," says Nihal. Soon, Nihal was training in various coaching clinics conducted by visiting former Indian and Pakistani cricketers, notably Dilip Vengsarkar and Mushtaq Mohammed.
He also attended renowned international cricket coach Bob Woolmer's coaching camp. In an e-mail note on Nihal, Woolmer observes: "Nihal was an interesting player, at first sight I thought he was about 15 years old, such was the maturity of his batting for one so young. Technically, there were only one or two minor problems, but such was his tenacity that he overcame them within a week and we put him in the 19-years-age-group to bat and he was very comfortable. Assuming that he continues his love affair with the game there is no reason why he should not take this ability to the highest level. I say this guardedly as he is still young and a lot can happen as one grows and matures."
Nihal's appetite for cricket had its increments during the annual summer holidays spent at his grandparent's residence at Indiranagar in Bangalore. "Nihal always wanted to live in Bangalore and last year we moved over here, luckily I have some good managers to oversee my business in Dubai," says Sajith. Nihal, trained simultaneously at the Brijesh Patel Cricket Academy and at the Karnataka Institute of Cricket through out the week, and the hardwork helped him pocket runs and gain recognition last year in the Under-13 Inter-Zonal tournament. "Last year I scored 324 runs and got 14 wickets bowling medium pace and this year it was even better as I got more than 600 runs," Nihal says.
Confidence echoes as Nihal dissects his batting approach. "I love to get on the front foot and it is easier here with the low bounce. In Dubai where we often practised on concrete pitches with mat rolled on it, the ball used to zip fast and high.
And it helped me as an opener since I face the quicker bowlers when they are fresh. I prefer to play the seamers though I am also comfortable against spin. I love to drive and can also cut and pull," he says.
It is early days for Nihal Unni. And an eternal dream of playing for India is still a long way away. It is time for the remote and a little bit of WWF on the television.
K.C. VIJAYA KUMAR
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