CHENNAI: iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans pacer A Esakkimuthu remembers the first time he held a cricket ball in his hand. It was the U16 selection trials in Tirunelveli and Esakkimuthu, a class tenth student from Kalakudi, a small village tucked away from the hassles of Tirunelveli city, who had watched T Natarajan get picked in the IPL auction the year before, wondering if he could dream of something similar. “Will it happen to me one day?” he dreamt.
He had asked his father, who runs a school van service from the neighbourhood villages to Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai, for a white t-shirt and pants. He borrowed “bata shoes” from a school-going kid in Kalakudi before going to the trials. He had only played with a “stumper” ball and had never touched a cricket ball before. In the trials, he somehow hit a few big shots before beating the bat with his pace and got selected.
However, considering the financial situation at home and the fact that Esakki was studying well, he could not continue. “My dad had met with an accident. The situation was not good. Dad and two brothers were all working. In all this, I could not even think of cricket. You need money to play and train. So I understood the situation and didn’t go,” he recalls.
It lit up a fury of fire within. “Veri (fire of passion)” is the word he keeps repeating. So much so that when he got a chance to play for Urumu Dhanalakshmi Arts College, Tiruchy, the Bachelor of Social Work student gave his everything. Esakkimuthu impressed an opposition batter, Yuvaraj from Bishop Heber College, who would take him under his wings. Esakkimuthu shifted colleges for his PG (Library Science) and continued to train with Yuvaraj. He was introduced to a senior pacer Senthil Nathan, Veeraraghavan Ramachandran of Alchemy Academy and trainer Michael Anton.
Every cricketing expense of his was taken care of, and Esakkimuthu did what he was meant to do. Run in fast and beat the batters, running through batting line-ups. That “veri” became “pasi (hunger)”, and cricket was his only food. “There have been nights when I did not sleep, when I cried. I have not cried for anything in my family or anything else. When it comes to cricket, I could not control it. I wanted it so bad,” he recalls the days of not getting a chance to play for Trichy in the SS Rajan Trophy.
Esakkimuthu returned to Tirunelveli and claimed 14 wickets in five games during the 2024 SS Rajan Trophy. He was selected for a TNCA camp, and soon a third division opportunity followed. Today, Esakimuthu is a TNPL player. “My family has no idea about cricket. They never stopped me from playing. It is such a blessing. You cannot come this far alone. So many people helped and blessed me to come this far,” says an emotional Esakkimuthu.
It is often said that it takes a village to raise an athlete. In the case of Esakkimuthu, it has taken a village, along with several other people who played their part, for him to achieve his dream. In all this, it was that “veri” and “pasi” that made him hold on and never give up.
