VISAKHAPATNAM: CITY lad Kona Srikar Bharat has been selected for Duleep Trophy, scheduled from August 23 to September 14 at Noida. Srikar, the B.Com final year student of Bullayya college, will be wicket keeper-batsman for India ‘Red’, captained by Yuvraj Singh.
“I received the news three days back over phone. I was really excited and frankly speaking I was expecting it. My parents are really happy right now,” said Srikar Bharat sharing his feelings with Express. Bharat is a promising batsman and also a wicket keeper from Andhra Cricket Association (ACA).
Starting to play cricket since his formative years, Srikar has an impressive record in Ranji Trophy in 2015-16. He scored 541 runs with two centuries, two fifties with an average of 41.61 and the strike rate of 52.32. As a stumper, he dismissed 22 batsmen in the 2015-16 Ranji season. Srikar also donned a cap for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this year and a member of the IPL Delhi Daredevils team in 2015. He has an impressive record in List A and first class matches.
“I learnt a lot as a player for the Delhi Daredevils. Preparation by international players before matches is outstanding. Now playing for Duleep Trophy, I feel it is a great opportunity to prove my talent both with gloves and bat. Right now my focus is to play a fine game and to handle pressure. I am confident. I have been regular in practice and the support I receive from both home and college is great,” said Srikar.
The Duleep Trophy will be played with pink ball under floodlights for the first time in India.
Three teams “India Red”, “India Blue” and “India Green” will feature in the tournament. While India Red will be captained by Yuvraj Singh, the other two teams will be captained by Suresh Raina and Gautam Gambhir.
“Playing under Yuvraj Singh will be a great learning experience for me. So far MSK Prasad and Y Venugopala Rao played for Team India and my dream is to play for Team India in future,” shares Srikar. He also said that Team India ODI and T20 skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh are his role models.