C Andre Siddarth is all of 18, but he is seen as a special talent in Tamil Nadu cricketing circles. The six-foot three-inch tall bespectacled batsman has a reputation of dominating bowlers at age-group levels and his runs have come when the chips are down. He’s already made a name for hauling TN out of tricky situations in the Cooch Behar Trophy. A 140 when TN was reeling at 101/7 against Bihar and a 120 when his side was 80/4 against Chandigarh are examples.
Yet in successive years he was not selected for India Under-19 squads. The latest snub was his exclusion when India Under-19 played their Australian counterparts at home. Siddarth was preparing for the CK Nayudu Trophy before the unexpected Ranji Trophy call-up arrived.
For a boy blessed with a natural flair and temperament, the question was if he would be able to make the transition to First-Class cricket. And into the fourth round of Ranji Trophy, it is safe to say Siddarth has found his feet. After starting with an impressive 38 against Saurashtra, he followed it up with 66* and 55* and 41 against Delhi and Chhattisgarh. And on Wednesday, with TN struggling at 79/3 against Assam at Guwahati, Siddarth scored 94 off 163 deliveries that included 9 boundaries and 1 six.
With Vijay Shankar making a crucial 76 at No.4, TN recovered from early blows to end Day 1 at 299/7 on a pitch that was already taking turn.
Watching it all unfold was K Vasudevadas, the chairman of the Tamil Nadu Senior Selection panel, who had fast tracked him from the junior set-up. Last year as junior selection head, Vasudevadas had seen Siddarth excel in the Under-19 level.
“Some of them have an X-factor and Siddarth is one of them,” Vasudevadas told The Indian Express. “When you have such players you have to take good care of them and give them opportunities to grow. His biggest strength is his temperament that complements his good technique. It comes naturally to him. Very few at this level are unfazed by the situation and can play their natural game. At 18, he managed to adapt to the situations and score runs when the team needed it. We felt he is ready for first-class and we have given him the opportunity,” Vasudevadas said.
At the Ranji Trophy level, Siddarth hasn’t been as aggressive, instead is prepared to play the waiting game. “It is not that I’m batting differently, it is just that I’m getting a hang of it,” he said. “At Under-19, I honestly thought if you can’t dominate the opposition, there is no use playing. Maybe it is my ego or that’s what I learnt watching (Ricky) Ponting bat. I won’t say the level was easy, but from the time I was a kid, I am used to playing with older players. So at U19, all that I wanted to do was dominate without worrying about the scores,” Siddarth said.
Cricket in his blood
Cricket runs in his blood as he is the nephew of S Sharath, the former Tamil Nadu player, who is part of the senior selection panel. When Siddarth’s name was missing from the India Under-19 squad, his mother Arthi experienced a feeling of dread, like she had many years ago. She has seen her elder brother miss out on national cap despite scoring consistently at domestic level. “I was honestly worried because in India pursuing cricket isn’t easy. There are so many hidden challenges. You can spend your entire career living in hope. When he didn’t get picked, I was naturally worried because I’ve seen what it did to Sharath. Even Siddarth was worried but before he could feel it, he was in the Ranji team. That just changed the mood completely for us,” Arthi said.
Sharath’s glittering career is a reminder of sorts for Siddarth that nothing comes easy at the top level. There have been moments when he has returned home flying high on the back of big scores, only for his uncle to keep him grounded. “He is my best critic… he ensures that I don’t get carried away. Last year I scored a 200 and told him about it. And his response was, ‘you have been given a bat to score. What is there to boast about?’ and that was that. Now I feel he did the best thing for me. Because, one shouldn’t get carried away,” Siddarth said.
Along with Sharath, it was his father Dr Chandrasekar who has had a huge influence on Siddarth. From the time he turned 5, Chandrasekar would use books to study cricket techniques, watch video tutorials and countless matches to groom Siddarth.
“I hated studying and cricket was an escape route. But with time, I got hooked on it and without my father it wouldn’t be possible. Though he didn’t play, he taught me the basics and everything by watching (Vivian) Richards videos. And once I grew up, I would watch Ricky Ponting because of his dominant game and then later Murali Vijay because of his elegance and technique,” Siddarth said.
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