“I’m keeping my mother’s dream alive,” says a very emotional Sanketh who is a part of the Hyderabad Ranji team for the first time. The left-arm bowler has represented Hyderabad in age-group cricket, made his T20 debut in November 2021, played his first List A game a year later and has finally got a call for the ongoing Ranji Trophy season.
“I started cricket when I was 12 and represented Hyderabad in all age groups (U14, U16, U19, U23) and now I’m a part of the Ranji team as well,” he said.
The story of him starting his journey as a cricketer is very emotional. Sanketh lost his mother at the age of just 9 and it was her wish to see him as a cricketer. Since that day, he has been keeping “Mum’s dream alive”.
“Talking about how cricket happened to me. It’s an emotional story. My mom was in her hospital bed when I was 9 and she wanted to see me as a cricketer. That was her last wish actually. She was battling cancer. So, I’m keeping my mum’s dream alive,” added Sanketh.
The Hyderabad cricketer has had a decent start to his career and picked up 12 wickets in 6 Vijay Hazare matches but an ankle injury kept him out of action for quite some time.
“I made my List A debut last season. That was a breakthrough year for me. I picked a lot of wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and right after the tournament, I suffered an ankle injury. So, I missed out on playing the Deodhar Trophy and all. I was out of cricket for a year and I came back this year. I then returned to bowling right before the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. So, now I’m getting back into the groove.”
“I wasn’t really expecting a call-up for the Ranji Trophy but I’m grateful that I’m a part of the squad for the Ranji Trophy,” he further added.
‘MI helped me with my rehab’
Sanketh was featuring in the DY Patil tournament last year and he picked up the injury while playing for Reliance. Appreciating MI, the 24-year-old said that the management took very good care of him and helped him with his rehab.
“I was playing the DY Patil tournament and that’s where I got injured. I had a tendon tear while I was playing for Reliance in February 2023. I underwent surgery in Mumbai itself. They (Mumbai Indians) took really good care of me. They helped me with my rehab and everything. They took care of the surgery basically,” he said.
Sanketh has been on the IPL giant’s radar and impressed scout Vinay Kumar during his trial this year.
“I had a chat with Vinay Kumar sir who is the scout for Mumbai Indians about my bowling and the injury. He was very impressed with my bowling last year. So, this year I went for the trials right after Mushtaq Ali. We did have a chat for like five minutes. Basically, I talked to him about my injury. So, he told me, you are bowling really well. He also talked to me about my strengths and where am I lacking right now. That was really helpful,” said Sanketh.
Tweaks in fitness regime
The 24-year-old made some minor tweaks to his training regime post his surgery.
“Actually, before the surgery, the fitness schedule was a bit vague. I was training 3-4 times a week but I was overdoing things because my body was supporting me as I was pretty young. I didn’t realise it. There wasn’t a particular plan for what I was doing. I was bowling a lot and because I was bowling quick, I took my training for granted just a bit. But as soon as surgery happened, I spoke to a lot of senior players about it (training). Now the training is more and then bowling is less and that’s how I’m taking care of my body,” explained the seamer.
“In the week, if I’m not bowling, I focus more on endurance training, running and those sorts of things. Initially, I started off with bowling four overs. I never missed a rehab session in the last six months, not even a single day. Even on Sundays, I used to do something for my rehab. The support staff has been really helpful,” he added.
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