A dream that began in Chennai, while watching India’s victorious World Series triumph in 1985, blossomed in Melbourne and is now beginning to take shape into a reality in Chennai again, the place of birth of Australia’s promising leg-spinner Vishwa Ramkumar’s father. As India Under-19 collapsed from 133/0 to 296 in response to Australia’s first innings total of 293, it was the leg-spin of Vishwa, who picked up four wickets that did maximum damage on the second day of the first Youth Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
And watching it from the stands was Vishwa’s father Ramkumar, with his family and friends. Vishwa is living the dream of Ramkumar, who played league cricket in Chennai before preference to education put an end to his aspirations. “Cricket is the only thing that I knew, but back then I didn’t have an option to choose between sports and education. So chartered accountancy became my calling,” Ramkumar tells The Indian Express.
But, the endearing image of Ravi Shastri taking the Audi for a spin at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after the World Series triumph had sowed seeds of inspiration in Ramkumar.
For Vishwa, cricket has been the only constant in his life since he was 4, when started with backyard cricket.(Special Arrangement)
“Coloured clothes, floodlights, packed stadiums and more importantly Bill Lawry, Richie Benaud and Tony Greig behind the mic…it was just fascinating for me and I told my family I’m going to settle down in Australia just to experience cricket. And I began chasing it,” Ramkumar recalls.
After stopovers in Singapore, United States and New Zealand as a Chartered Accountant professional and then in the field of IT, Ramkumar would eventually move to Melbourne in 2006, two months before Vishwa was born. “I was always inspired by Australia because of what it did with cricket. It was always my destination and it also turned out to be the ideal place for Vishwa to grow into a cricketer as well.”
For Vishwa, cricket has been the only constant in his life since he was 4, when started with backyard cricket. At 6, Ramkumar handed him a cricket ball and now it has become an inseparable part of his right hand. The reason to pick leg-spin as art to pursue wasn’t a difficult one for Ramkumar already had an idol in mind for Vishwa to follow.
“For anyone who grew up in the 90s, if it is batting, Sachin Tendulkar was the idol and spin bowling means Shane Warne. And moreover, when Vishwa started to bowl with the cricket ball, bowling came naturally to him,” Ramkumar says.
But he had to convince Vishwa, who being in the land of fast bowling, was naturally inclined to the sight of Australian fast bowlers hunting in packs. “He wanted to run in like them and bowl as fast as he could. But we have to be realistic because with our roots, he didn’t have the physique to become a fast bowler. It comes naturally to Australians. You look at this team, he is the tiny one. So I encouraged him to bowl leg-spin,” Ramkumar adds.
And Vishwa’s career graph since then has seen gradual progression. At 9 he featured in the Mitchell Shield tournament in Melbourne, then moved up to the Under-14s, with his pathway clearly established.
“Because of his consistent ability to take wickets, he has moved through the ranks quickly. He has always played with boys who are senior to him and it has been grinding. But he has come through it all and is now part of the Victoria junior side,” he says.
With cricket only being a summer sport in Australia, Ramkumar has been bringing Vishwa to Chennai over the last couple of years to get more exposure. He has had training sessions with a Bengaluru based club and last March was a net bowler during Chennai Super Kings’ pre-season camp.
“When I came here, I was just stunned by how much cricket Under-19 boys play here. They even get to practice 6-7 hours a day, which is not the case in Australia. In the off-season, we usually train only indoors. But nothing like a good game time. And you get good exposure to spin bowling coaches as well. We had one with VV Kumar and then obviously the stint with CSK was icing on the cake,” Ramkumar says.
With the ball, Vishwa is very much old-school sort of a leg-spinner, but one who has a long run-up almost like a medium-pacer. In the first innings, he repeatedly tested India’s batsmen with his variations and walked away with four wickets.
For Ramkumar the dream is simple, he wants Vishwa to don two of the famous yellow jerseys in cricket. One that of Australia and that of Chennai Super Kings.
