Traveling 50km to academy, testing COVID constructive, Rasheed battles setbacks to prosper in semifinal

Rain or shine, warmth or mud—Guntur may be scorching scorching in summers—nothing mattered to him.

He misplaced jobs, might hardly maintain at instances, moved cities, however stored the cricket dream burning in his son’s coronary heart. He was a restoration agent for banks in Hyderabad when his good friend noticed Rasheed batting throughout a match on the academy (Prasad Cricket Academy). “He called me up and said he is gifted and I must encourage him. Unfortunately, we were not financially sound enough to support his training and academics, besides paying rent. So in 2012, I moved back to Guntur,” recollects Balisha.

But then kicked in additional travels. Balisha had no clue what to do subsequent. The charges of native academies had been too costly to enroll him. But pushed to the extremes, he discovered options. He began taking Rasheed to a cricket floor six kilometers from his house and began giving him throw-downs. A couple of months later, he got here to find out about ACA’s residential cricket academy and took Rasheed for a trial.

Rasheed, although younger, grasped the extent of his father went to protect his cricketing dream. “He by no means requested me to take him to a film or a park or a toy or gadget. He was all the time into cricket, and I did what I might to supply him with every thing,’ he provides.

WHAT. A. PERFORMANCE!

India U19 beat Australia U19 by 9⃣6⃣ runs & march into the #U19CWC 2022 Final. #BoysInBlue #INDvAUS

This is India U19’s 4th successive & eighth total look within the U19 World Cup finals.

Scorecard ️ https://t.co/tpXk8p6Uw6 pic.twitter.com/tapbrYrIMg

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 2, 2022

Coach, the saviour

The stars then started to align. Rasheed left academy coach J Krishna Rao awestruck by his method and composition. “He should have been 7 or 8 and was dealing with our U-16 bowlers fairly comfortably. He regarded so composed. Deep down I knew that he has expertise and should nurture him delicately,” the coach says.

All went nicely till his father misplaced his job at an area vehicle agency, as he started arriving late for work due to the 50km journeys. The coach provided an answer. “His father was a bit hesitant, but I managed to convince him to let Rasheed stay at the academy,” says Rao, who can also be the coach of wicketkeeper KS Bharat.

Two years on, Rasheed was chosen for the Andhra U-14 group. Then within the Vijay Merchant Trophy within the 2018-19 season, he amassed 674 runs at 168.50, together with three centuries to file a memo of his blossoming potential. The dream run went on. In the Vinoo Mankad Trophy (2020-21), he emerged the second-highest run-getter, mustering 376 runs in six matches. Picked for the U-19 Asia Cup in December final yr, he scored an unbeaten 90 off 103 balls towards Bangladesh within the semi-final.

9⃣4⃣ Runs
1⃣0⃣8⃣ Balls
8⃣ Fours
1⃣ Six

SK Rasheed narrowly misses out on a ton however what a nice knock that was from the India U19 vice-captain!👏 #BoysInBlue #INDvAUS #U19CWC

Follow the match ️ https://t.co/tpXk8p6Uw6 pic.twitter.com/6p1GvQKBaH

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 2, 2022

The stage was properly set for the U-19 World Cup when he was examined constructive after the primary sport towards South Africa. A dissatisfied Rasheed rung up his coach Krishna Rao and broke down. “He had all the Covid symptoms. He had a high fever and severe body-ache. He called him around 2 AM and started crying, ‘sir, I think my World Cup is over. I might not recover for the knockouts,” says Rao.

But the coach allayed his fears. To kill the festering negativity, he distracted him. “We talked about his dismissal against South Africa. He had scored 31 and was well set before getting out. After talking about cricket for 30 minutes, I sensed new energy in him. We talked about things that we can control. I instructed him to follow the protocols, focus on his recovery, and keep negativity aside,” the coach recounts.

As luck would have it, he recovered proper earlier than the quarterfinals towards Bangladesh. He was rusty in his 26-run knock, nevertheless it did not matter. He was again on the sector. And when it mattered, within the semifinals towards Australia, he confirmed why he’s being rated so extremely. Reeling at 37 for two in 13 overs, Rasheed confirmed maturity that belied his age to compose a composed 94. He and captain Yash Dhull (110) placed on the second largest partnership of the match, including 204 runs for the third wicket.

Rasheed (proper) and captain Yash Dhull placed on the second largest partnership of the match, including 204 runs for the third wicket. (Photo: ICC)

Rasheed performed an ideal foil for Dhull, who was scoring freely. Rasheed accomplished his half-century in 78 balls, and as soon as he reached the milestone, he switched to the fourth gear and began matching Dhull shot for shot. Be it the punch by way of cowl off William Salzmann or a straight-six late in his innings off Jack Nisbet, which took him into the 90s, he demonstrated his class.

Later, his captain duly appreciated his deputy. “Rashed is mentally very sturdy. We had been within the bubble collectively after we had been examined Covid-19 constructive. He was all the time mentally ready,” he stated.

Perfect No 3

Back house, Rao is happy together with his ward’s knock and calls him a really perfect No. 3 batter. “If I am not wrong, he has always batted at No 3, and I don’t know the reason. He sets small targets in his mind, be it T20, 50 overs of four-day cricket. He can grind like a Pujara (Cheteshwar) and can smash like a Sehwag (Virender). He has got all the shots. Rasheed loves playing through the innings. In the ODI’s, his target is to stay at the crease till the 40th over and after that, he will go berserk,” says Rao.

Rasheed accomplished his half-century in 78 balls, and as soon as he reached the milestone, he switched to the fourth gear and began matching Dhull shot for shot. (Twitter/BCCI)

It’s his ward’s intelligence that ends him most. “The child is clever and yesterday’s knock was an ideal instance of his sport consciousness. He loves rotating the strike. He might have scored the century too, however he misplaced focus after the unlucky dismissal of Dhull,” he chimes in.

“As a coach, I am glad that he is enjoying his game and is back at his best,” he provides.

At his house, Rasheed’s household cannot look forward to the ultimate and the day he returns house. “We’ve not met him for the past three months. We were worried when he was tested positive. I am glad everything is in the past now, and hopefully, he will return home with the cup,” says Balisha. And then the daddy might take pleasure in satisfaction that each one the hardship he had endured was price it.

With inputs from Srinivas Janyala