Waiting in the wings, Awasthi fine-tunes skills

Published>Tue, Nov 09 10 04:23 PM

Two days before the start of their Elite Division match against Assam, Railways' best bowler and captain, Murali Kartik is putting his team's batsmen through their paces. With a glint in his trademark sunglasses, he flights a slow delivery with a blur of revolutions towards the batsman.

Prashanth Awasthi, though, is equal to the task. He leans forward into the cover-drive, then poses as if for a photograph. Murali simply smiles."That was definitely the best moment so far. Despite the fact that it was only a net session, I feel good because Murali bhaiya is such a senior bowler."

Despite only batting in the nets currently, Awasthi, who is only a shade over 20, almost made it to the playing XI in Railways' first match against Gujarat. He was the 12th man on the strength of back-to-back centuries ? 115 against Rajasthan and 135 not out against Uttar Pradesh ? in the CK Nayudu U-22 trophy this October. Awasthi, who captain of the Uttar Pradesh U-17 team, said that it was good feeling to play against his team-mates.

"When I came out to bat, there was a lot of good-natured sledging. He and several of the other players would say 'captain aa gaya, captain ko out karo' (the captain has come, let us get the captain out.) Sometimes they would also say 'captain, when will you make your Ranji debut'. I know they were joking but the thought does cross my mind from time-to-time. So I decided to make my innings count. In the last match against Rajasthan, I had scored a century (115), but had got out soon after. Against UP, I was determined to remain not out."

Awasthi only carried drinks for his team-mates and, being among the youngest members of the squad, was ribbed a fair bit. "It's a sort of ragging, but it's all in fun. Seniors like Sanjay Bangar also take the time out to help me with my batting and when it comes to giving me advice, no one ever refuses me."

But if Awasthi is looking to make his debut against Assam, he may have to wait. Railways coach Abhay Sharma feels while Prashanth is undoubtedly talented, it is too early to say whether he will get a chance in the playing XI against Assam. "We have a lot of experience and talent in the playing XI. It's hard to guarantee a place. But the season is long. He will definitely get a chance sometime this season. And then he will have to make it count."

Source: Web Search