“Adam Gilchrist is my inspiration”: Rahul Chowdhary, Sonnet CC
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams and live the life you have imagined. If you are true and sincere to what you do in life, you will always be awarded because hard work never goes in vain.” – Rahul Chowdhary
Delhi under 23 and Sonnet CC player Rahul Chowdhary’s passion for the game of cricket is more than anything else in his life. Cricket provides him happiness and a purpose for life.
As a young kid, he watched Australian legend Adam Gilchrist on TV and decided to take up wicket keeping just like his idol at the age of 7.
Rahul was trained by Tarak Sinha, coach at Sonnet Cricket Club. He gives credit to his coach, parents and close friends for his achievements and believing in him. He managed studies and sports exceptionally well. Completing his high school education with a percentage of 93 and graduation with 72, to go with his superlative achievements in cricket, he was an all-rounder in true sense.
Rahul has played for Sonnet Cricket Club, Delhi under 13, 16, 19 and 23. He describes his best cricketing moment as getting picked for the Delhi under 19 team at the age of 17 and scoring his first fifty (68 runs) against Madhya Pradesh in the All India Vinoo Mankad trophy semi-final.
His best performance he remembers is scoring 86 against Jharkhand in the Cooch Behar trophy (2011-12). He says, “My team was struggling at 190-5 when I walked in to bat at number 7 and helped my team to reach a massive score of 472. This match is very special because it was my first test match fifty and it was the only test match (4 day game) that Delhi won that year at the under 19 level.”
Rahul has played in various tournaments across the country such as Cooch Behar Trophy, Vinoo Mankad Trophy, Dhruv Pandove Trophy, Col. CK Naidu Trophy as well as travelled abroad to Singapore and UK for international tournaments.
Apart from cricket, he plays basketball, football and squash and also excels in swimming. Watching movies, reading autobiographies of famous cricketers and driving his car are few of his hobbies.
AWARDS
- Bhaktawarlal Jain award for excellence in sports and academics from St. Stephens college , awarded by Shri Arvind Kejriwal, Hon. Chief Minister, Delhi
- Awarded the Ground colors and the Special award in Cricket by Stephen’s College, New Delhi for extraordinary performance during the year 2012-2013 and 2013-2014
- Awarded the Red Tie and the Red Blazer for excellence in sports (cricket) in the year 2009-2010 by Delhi Public School, R.K Puram, New Delhi, the highest sports honor in the school
- Awarded the Most Promising Cricketer by Mount St. Mary’s School, New Delhi, (2008-2009)
- Awarded the Outstanding Cricketer by Mount St. Mary’s School, New Delhi (2007-2008)
- Rahul Sharma Memorial Award for excellence in cricket by Mount St. Mary’s School, New Delhi, (2006-2007)
Article By
Sumanyu Jain
Regional Manager & Editor @CricketGraph