New Delhi | Siddharth Yadav, son of a general provisions store shopkeeper Shravan Yadav in the small town of Kotgaon in Ghaziabad, has been selected in the India Under-19 squad for the upcoming Asia Cup, followed by the World Cup in January.
Siddharth’s story is not different from several players who also belong to India’s smaller towns where playing cricket for the country is still a far-fetched dream. But Siddharth is certainly a diamond in the rough.
Shopkeeper Shravan Yadav’s cricketing credentials are limited to once bowling to former India cricketer Manoj Prabhakar in the nets in Ghaziabad, but his passion for the game is limitless — and it has been inherited by his son.
“When he (Siddharth) was young, it was my dream to see him playing cricket one day. When he held the bat for the first time, he stood left-handed. My mother said, ‘yeh kaisa ulta khada ho gaya hai (why is he standing the wrong way?)’. I said this is what his stance will be, and he has been a left-handed batsman ever since,” says Shravan.
Siddharth’s journey as a serious cricketer began when he was eight. The fulfillment of his father’s dream required hard work and sacrifice.
Every afternoon, Shravan used to take his son to a nearby ground and gave throwdowns that Siddharth had to play with a straight bat.
“I made sure he did that for about three hours. I closed my shop at 2 pm, and we would be at the ground until 6. Then I would go back to the shop,” Shravan recalled.
“I would have dinner by 10.30 pm and then, when I hit the bed, mujhe hosh hi nahi rehta tha (I would pass out with exhaustion),” he added.
Siddharth was selected in Uttar Pradesh’s under-16 team, and he became the highest scorer for the state that season, with one double hundred and five centuries. He was then picked for the Zonal Cricket Academy, and later went to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
After the Covid pandemic put paid to domestic cricket last season, the BCCI picked the teams for the under-19 Challenger Trophy, keeping the upcoming World Cup in the West Indies in mind. Siddharth finished as the second-highest run-getter in the Challengers, slamming a hundred and three fifties. He was picked for the U-19 tri-series featuring Bangladesh and two Indian teams, where he played three games and was unbeaten on 43 once.
For Siddharth, the call-up is just the beginning of the journey. He is a simple boy who does not like to venture out much, and does not want to splurge on gadgets or movies like many of his friends.
“Financially, there was always a crunch, but I never wanted to ask my family about it. My teammates used to go to the movies or do some shopping but I never went with them. I don’t like to roam around or spend unnecessarily,” Siddharth said.
Siddharth has for sure paved the path for many such dreamers who aspire to become a cricketer and represent the country but succumb to the circumstances that thwart them to pursue cricket.
