M Venkatesh was the 12th man and was looking forward to carry drinks to his playmates on the ground. But his Karnataka captain Mayank Agarwal told him that he was going to bowl as another Vasuki Koushik was injured.
The 22 years old was elated because it was his debut match, but he was equally nervous. There was not much time and he had to play.
The seamer (right arm medium) and also a batsman, Venkatesh bowled vigorously and destroyed the batting line up of Uttarakhand by taking five wickets for just 36 runs in 14 overs. He also bowled three maiden overs. He became the 12th Karnataka bowler to get five or more wickets in his debut Ranji Trophy match.
Karnataka is playing Uttarakhand in a Ranji Trophy quarterfinal.
A shy but confident and energetic Venkatesh was brilliant on the field packing off one batsman after another through his terrific bowling.
After the historic day of his life, the Mysore boy said, “I was so happy and nervous. I had no time even to inform my family that I was playing today”.
After taking his first wicket in the 12th over of the match, he loosened a bit and was looking relaxed.
Besides his cricketing skills, not many know that he is a trained Carnatic musician.
He hails from a family of Carnatic musicians and artistes. His grandmother V Saroja is a well-known Carnatic vocalist. His mother Dakshayini Muralidhar is a classical dancer.
His younger brother Yogeshwar is also a trained Carnatic musician and making name in Kannada TV channels.
His father Muralidhar persuaded him to focus on cricket and Venkatesh reluctantly gave up music to be a sportsman with bat and ball on the field.
Started his career as a batsman, he scored a century in one of the league matches. He has so far taken 50 wickets in Vinoo Mankad and Cooch Behar tournaments.
Venkatesh, who dreams of playing for the India cricket team, says his coach at the BUCC Liyan Khan transformed him from batsman to a bowler, according to a report in leading Kannada daily ‘Prajavani’.
The loss for music is gain for the cricket.
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