KOCHI: Aspirited 14-year-old boy, Niranjan P Dev has his goals clear. For the class VIII student of Saraswathi Vidyalaya, who has recently been selected for the under-15 trials in Kerala cricket, doing his best in each of his game has been the priority. The ambitious youngster already cherishes the dream of being part of the national team. It is not surprising, given the performances in his matches. After getting into the under-14 Trivandrum district team initially, the young player got selected to the under-14 Kerala team within three years.
His debut match was against Andhra Pradesh, where he took three wickets before being run out. In the second match against Goa, he scored 67 runs, whereas he aimed even higher for his next match against Karnataka, taking 74 runs. Becoming the top scorer in the two matches, the lad also played a role in propelling the state to the third position in the South Zone Interstate Championship.
For the youngster, who was more into badminton and other sports, cricket was nowhere near his mind when he started out. The school student says, “I was never interested in the game until my father enrolled me for cricket coaching. I started training in the University college grounds, Palayam, under Sohan at the age of 10. Gradually, I started loving the game.”
According to Niranjan’s father Vinod Nair, who also happens to be the personal security officer of Sasi Tharoor MP, it was the previous junior team selector Renji Philip, who later suggested that the boy be trained under the supervision of Biju George. The school student is now undergoing training under the guidance of the Indian Women’s Team coach and his assistant Alex.
Ask him his role model in cricket, and he gets all thrilled. Giving the name of Virat Kohli, Niranjan doesn’t fail to add that both of them share the same nickname, although spelt differently.
In fact, it does not end with the nickname alone, opines Vinod. He adds with pride, “We had started calling him ‘Chikku’ from a very young age. Apart from this coincidence, his coach has infact mentioned that he has an aggressive batting style similar to the Indian cricket team captain.”
He added that Niranjan has the calibre to make it to the nationals. “He is being given special care and extensive training by Biju George and in his absence, Alex, for the same. I am thinking of enrolling him in an open school so that he can focus more on professional cricket,” said Vinod.Besides Kohli, former South African cricketer Jacques Kallis is another figure he looks up to. The youngster, who will soon be playing in the under-16 category, is eyeing straight ahead. Training rigorously with the intention of playing for under-19 World Cup 2021, there is no doubt in Niranjan’s mind while stating, “I want to play for India one day.”