CHENNAI : Fourteen-year old Arya Ganesh of Lalaji Omega International School, Chennai, is an emerging cricketing talent. In the latest South Zone Under-14 tournament organised by Goa Cricket Association at Goa, he was the players’ pick as he became the highest run-getter in the event.
Arya trains at the Super Kings Academy, Chennai, and his coach is Louis Mariano of Super Kings Academy (mentor for the past six years). Sriram Krishnamurthy, head coach at the academy also trains him.
At the tournament, he scored a total of 465 runs in seven matches with one century (159 not out) and four half centuries (98, 82, 57, and 50) with an average of 77.50. Tamil Nadu, thanks to his effort, went to final and lost to Karnataka in a very close match. Arya is a top-order batter and generally prefers to bat No.3. He also bowls leg spin. He represented Tamil Nadu last year in the Under-14 South Zone tournament at Kerala where he played four matches and got about 160 runs with two fifties. “Arya is a very good talent and a bright prospect for the state. He can clear the field easily (hit sixes at will) and once he settles down can make a big score,” said J Hariesh, head coach of TNCA Under-14 team. “He is good at shot selection and has a good bat swing that helps him time the ball well.”
Arya scored over 400 runs in TNCA U-14 inter-school Somasundaram Trophy tournament in 2022 when he was just 12. He also scored 134 in the final of the Take-Rotary Serenity U-19 Tournament in 2023 and was adjudged the Best Emerging Player. “All these achievements show that he is on track. He has to improve his fitness and stamina. In the final at Goa against Karnataka he got 50-odd runs and was out as he was tired. Had he continued things would have been different,” he said. To improve fitness, Arya trains with Johnson Selvakumar every morning and in the evening, he trains at the Super Kings Academy.
Arya is pleased with his success at a young age and wants to improve his bowling skills in order to be flexible for the teams that he gets to play. In the TNCA League, he is currently playing for Gandhi CC in 5th Division. “In batting, there is always scope to improve in many areas. I am also working hard to learn to bowl with more variations and different angles in order to get more wickets regularly,” said Arya.