Watching cricket on television caught Armaan Giria’s fancy. He took to the game like a fish to water and now there is no getting out of it.
Armaan Giria is just 13-years old and has already impressed coaches around the city who watch inter-school tournaments and scout for talent. This all-rounder can wield the willow and send his opponents on a leather hunt or spin the ball and take a bagful of wickets to enable his team to triumph.
A student of the Ebenezer International School, Armaan practices at home in his garden and plays his shots with dad Kamal turning his arm over at the other end. And when dad is not at home, Armaan pushes a cricket ball into a sock, hangs it to practice his strokes.
Watching television or playing video games are, refreshingly, not part of his pastime pursuits. One hopes youngsters take a leaf out of him and get on to the ground and play something.
Armaan slammed a brilliant unbeaten 105 and also bagged two wickets in the under-14 match for the Pepsi Cup against Kedar Cricket Academy in Chennai. He also has an unbeaten 63 against Bethany for his school Ebenezer IS in the B T Ramaiah (under-14) inter-school cricket tournament. Coached by Ramdas and now Anil, Armaan is slowly but surely developing into a cricketer of whom a lot will be heard of in the near future.
“He is a real natural talent and surely has a great future. You hardly get boys who can spin the ball but Armaan is very good at that. He is mature beyond his years and soon, I think he should be in the state under-16 team. You rarely get leg spinners these days and Armaan is an exception,” said Imtiaz Ahmed, who sharpens Armaan’s skills at his academy.
“Virat Kohli is my favourite cricketer. I also like Shane Warne as he is a leg spinner. I have seen a lot of his matches on television. I have also been to watch the IPL matches when he played,” said Armaan, who began playing when he was eight years old.
“Yes, I want to play for my state age group teams and then possibly for the state team itself. With hard work and the grace of god, I want to play for my country. That’s my ambition,” said Armaan.
“I will not neglect my studies and I am good at that, scoring more than 80 per cent. Education is very important as if you cannot achieve what you want to, you can always have an alternative,” said Armaan.
With his patience, hard work and determination, Armaan is surely on the road to success.