As Vishwa Ramkumar settled down on the couch at his parents’ place in Adyar and started talking about how an Indian-origin leggie went on to play for Australia U19, the conversation kept veering back to his father. For it was Ramkumar, a cricketer dad who made Australia his dream destination because of the country’s rich sports culture. It was he who gave a cricket ball in Vishwa’s hand when he was around six. It has been a long journey together for the father and son.
Growing up in Chennai, Ramkumar was obsessed with cricket; he even played league cricket in the city, but soon realised cricket is an expensive sport. He chose chartered accountancy instead, travelled across the world before eventually settling down in Australia. So when Vishwa was born, it was obvious that cricket stadiums would be his frequently visiting place. It comes as no surprise that cricket holds up to major part of the conversations between the father and son. “That’s the main bonding factor,” recalls the 19-year-old. When I was young, I think nearly every day, he would take me to the nets and we’d just play, come back and watch cricket on the TV together, sometimes go to sleep, watching cricket together,” he adds.
Cricket eventually ended up becoming his thing. Growing up in Melbourne, the city of Brett Lee, James Pattinson, Scott Boland and the likes, he wanted to become a fast bowler. However, soon Vishwa realised spin would be a better option for him, and invariably in the land of Shane Warne, he opted for leg-spin. He made a steady rise up the ranks and even toured India as part of the Australia U19 side, playing a Youth Test against India U19 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, in front of his family. India U19 won the first game, but Vishwa impressed with a four-fer and a three-fer in that match. In the lead-up to the 2024 Indian Premier League, Vishwa was also a net bowler for Chennai Super Kings.
For someone whose first memory of watching Test cricket was the India-Australia 2011 Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, both the MCG and Chepauk remain special. The teenager, who plays for Dandenong Cricket Club in the Victorian Premier Cricket Competition, spends most of the Australian summer in cricket grounds, honing his skills and taking wickets. During the off-season, he frequently visits Chennai for training and upskilling himself. “I think from 11 or 12, I have been training here. I first went to the Cricket Drome academy, and I worked with Sridharan Sriram, who used to work with the Australian team. Afterwards, I also worked with a few spin coaches like Siva Prakasam,” he shares.
Currently, Vishwa is training with AC Prathiban, who is also the coach for India spinner Varun Chakravarthy. A fan of Varun’s googly, Vishwa is keen on adding more to his spin arsenal. However, coming back from a stress fracture, he has been taking it easy when it comes to training. “Not being able to bowl for three months is a bit hard, but I think, in a way, it’s given me a good break. I’m about to refresh.”
While a huge part of his cricket has been his dad, Shanthi Rajan, his mom has been his go-to person for everything in life.
During the 2024 Boxing Day Test against India, Vishwa spent time assisting the Australian dressing room, getting a close look at how the international stars operate. While it remains the ultimate dream, Vishwa at the moment,
is aiming to break into the Victoria senior set-up. “I think, for the next year and a half, ideally, I would want to play in the Big Bash or make my debut for Victoria and then hopefully, progress from there,” he says.