BENGALURU: Former professional cricketers, Vinay Maharishi, Sandeep Ramesh, Girish K L and Nagendra K C are united by their passion for the game. Unwilling to bid farewell to their first love, these gentlemen eventually resorted to corporate cricket.
Proactive in their respective company teams, these men spilt the beans on their sporty journey.
Vinay Maharishi, Deputy Manager at Accenture, began playing cricket at the age of 12. After playing professional cricket for 18 years, he shifted to corporate cricket in 2009 because of a shoulder injury.
But he is happy to get a second chance at the game, to maintain physical fitness and pursue his lost dreams.
“Cricket has made me what I am today,” he says.
He considers commercialism of cricket to be its limitation. “The BCCI should market ODI and test cricket on a larger scale as these are the true forms of cricket,” he adds.
In 2014, Vinay scored 170 runs and was awarded the player of the tournament in the RCB corporate cup.
He is one of the players at a corporate cricket tournament, Reva - Vestian Cup, to start this weekend. This tournament sees around 40 companies participating every year.
Sandeep Ramesh, head of commercial contact business at Lenovo, is also contesting for the cup. He played professional cricket all through school and college life. As he hails from a middle-class family, he had to focus on his career. And so cricket took a backseat.
“Balancing work, family and cricket became difficult,” he said.
In 2003, he started playing corporate cricket as it gave him an opportunity to pursue his passion and keep in touch with his friends. The biggest drawback of cricket in India, he says, is “politics... skill is overthrown by influence”.
“In 2009, my team won the Kingfisher cup. Along with the trophy, we got a chance to play against RCB. Though we lost by 40 runs, I played the entire over opposite Anil Kumble, a moment I can never forget,” reminisces Sandeep.
Technical senior analyst at Dell, Girish KL was hired by the company because of his cricket expertise. After playing professional cricket for four years, he quit in 2001 fed up of the politics and partiality.
“Favoritism towards players from recognized clubs is common,” rues Girish.
In 2007, his team played against RCB. He also plays for a club called Saviki that participates in open tournaments.
Nagendra KC, team leader at Berger paints, played professional cricket for seven years. Due to a hand injury, he was unable to compete at the Under-19 selection trial and eventually quit. “Back in the day, a ball hit my face and even today the scar remains” he says.
“Lack of attention given to the injuries of players is the biggest drawback of Indian cricket” he says. Captain of his school and college teams, Nagendra is happy to be playing corporate cricket because it keeps him occupied during his leisure hours.