It was in 2005 when 14yr old Arun could not muster the fees of Rs 150 after a few months of training, his coach Prasad Raut sir waved his fees at the Kwality Sports Academy! That’s how his career began with coaches Prasad Raut, Prashant Rathod, Shekhar Karmalkar and Nitin Palande all playing a crucial role in shaping his cricket career. He remembers when he was playing well in U16 and Prasad sir challenged him to score a ton in open age group where players are far more senior than he was, Arun came up with a hundred and that’s how he earned his first English Willow bat from Prasad Raut sir” He similarly got his first professional Reebok Shoes from his coach at a time when he was not able to afford it” Arun proudly shares today “had it not been their backup I would not be playing professional cricket today”
Arun continued sharing with us- “Prasad Raut sir would focus alot on my fielding and fitness, he would ensure that daily 30 minutes i only do drills for fielding and fitness. Prashant Rathod sir also guided me a lot on my batting, how to score and where to score runs, he always made me play as many practice matches as possible to hone my skills which has helped me a lot in my cricket career. Rathod sir would also share the experiences of Shekar sir and Nitin sir to improve my game”
Video-Arun Yadav fielding
Who doesn’t want a player who can plonk fours & sixes at will, chip in with crucial spells and can also do stunning fielding!? Players like them are called three dimensional players-a term popularized by Indian Team’s Chief Selector MSK Prasad. A player who can contribute with every aspect of the game whether it’s with the bat, with the ball or just saving those important runs with fielding!
Born and brought up in Navi Mumbai (ilthanpada), 28yr old Arun Yadav is one player who fills the three dimensional slot in every team he plays for! Arun who bats at the middle order is an athletic fielder who can make those dives to save crucial runs while he can also be more than useful with the ball with his medium pace often coming up with wickets too!
Arun plays for numerous Corporate teams like Jamunadas Shipping, Union Bank, Income Tax, Future Group, Route Mobile and now for DY Patil while he has played for MB Union CC, Sunrise CC, National Cricket Club and DY Patil Sports Academy at the Club level.
Arun’s cricket career started with Kwality Sports Academy in 2005, he started getting coached under Prashant Rathod, Mr. Prasad Raut, Mr. Nitin Palande and Mr. Shekhar Karmalkar. Arun’s first Kanga League Club was MB Union CC from “E” Div in 2007 while he got promoted to “B” Div representing Sunrise CC in 2010. While playing for Sunrise CC, he took 38 wkts alongwith 235 runs in his debut Kanga Season under the captaincy of Ajay Kadam sir (who is now a Coach) while in the same year he scored a gritty 92 in the only match he played in Shalini Bhalekar Tournament. It was on the back of his consistent performances, he went on to lead the Sunrise CC team. Arun shares that even now he takes help from Ajay Kadam sir whenever he requires any guidance or any improvements in his game.
Arun further added’ I played under the captaincy of Rajesh Pawar for National CC. He supported me alot and always gave me freedom to play my natural game. Arun remembers his former skipper saying “even if you score golden ducks, i will not drip you but you don’t leave your natural game” Arun says ” it was my skipper’s support that helped me perform well for National CC” in A Division.
Video-Arun Yadav batting video
On the basis of his sparkling performances, he was offered to play for National Cricket Club from “A” Division where he scored 42 on debut. Arun also scored a fantastic 111 for National CC in Kanga League “A” Div despite being treated with Malaria during the match time. Arun came to limelight with a stellar knock of 158 vs Payyade SC in the Purshottam Shield at a time when his team collectively managed to score just 250 runs on the board! Arun’s good run with the bat continued as he followed it up with an 84 vs Karnatak CC in Quarter finals and a crucial hundred vs DY Patil in the semi finals of the SPG T20 Tournament where he was declared the ‘man of the series”
Finally all his hardwork and consistent performances came into notice of none other than Abey Kuruvilla sir (Former Indian Cricketer) who offered Arun to play for DY Patil Club which is one of the most powerful teams of Mumbai. Since 2017, Arun has been playing for DY Patil at the Club and Corporate level while his most memorable performance for DY Patil was the 6wkt haul he took in the finals of Times Shield’18.
Video-Arun Yadav bowling video
When we asked him to elaborate a few more promising performances, Arun shared “I scored a crucial 78 batting at no.8 last year for DY Patil, I was also declared the” Best Batsman” when I played for D Division” Arun had scored 208* in a 45 over game while smacked a brilliant 189 in the semi-finals in D Div Times Shield rightly bagging the “Best Batsman” award!
In 2019, Arun Yadav with the bat shattered records when he smashed 159* off mere 51 balls (21 fours, 9 sixes) for Sarab XI Team vs Bombay Bulls Vashi in Championship T20 tournament’19. It was a match where he was part of a record 362* run unbeaten opening stand with Vaibhav Mali (154*). Arun was also part of the Shivaji Park Lions Team in T20 Mumbai’19 where he began quite impressively.
Let’s wish Arun a great career ahead as he keeps entertaining the crowd and helps his team win matches across different formats.
Delhi Warriors (Salim Ansari) team opting to bat first at Khera Khalan, New Delhi were not able to post a huge total getting all out for 130/10 in 35.2 overs. Most of the batsman struggled and it was quite evident from the fact that the highest individual score in their line-up was 24 runs. From the bowlers, Aryan Poddar with 3/14 and Varun Dabas with 2/10 were the pick of the lot.
Chasing 131, Ravi Brothers XI were off to a equally shaky start with scoreboard reading 80/7 and 93/8 at one stage. However, Chandan Mishra at no.6 played a crucial cameo of 50 runs in 54 balls rescuing his team from a narrow defeat.
Ravi Brothers XI crossed the victory line in 33.0 overs with just one wicket in hand while Aftab (4/27) and Deepanshu (2/23) from Delhi Warriors gave a tough fight with the ball. It was a close shave win for Ravi Brothers XI while Chandan Mishra was declared ‘man of the match”
Played at the Khalsa Cricket Ground, Mansa (Punjab), TYCA New Delhi batting first posted a massive total of 235/4 in 20 overs. Despite a poor opening start, India U19’s all-rounder Ayush Badoni and talented Samarth Seth brought their team back into the game. No.3 batsman Samarth en-route his 101 smashed 14 fours and 5 sixes reaching his century in mere 51 deliveries while Ayush Badoni who came at no.5 went all guns blazing scoring the fastest ton of the tournament hitting a swashbuckling 102* in mere 43 balls. Ayush smashed 10 fours and 7 sixes while also stitched a match winning 134 run stand for the 4th wicket with Samarth pushing TYCA Delhi to a massive total.
SABI XI Hoshiarpur in reply gave a tough fight even though they fell short by 16 runs. Most of their batsman chipped in with starts while Vishal who came at no.4 played a whirlwind knock of 74 runs in mere 23 balls (6 fours, 7 sixes). Had he batted an over or two more not only he could have reached a very quick hundred but even the result of the game could have been different as he was looking quite dangerous!
TYCA New Delhi won the match by 16 runs while Ayush Badoni was declared “man of the match”
Strong, compact, agile, quick, fit are some of the words you can relate with Eknath Kerkar. A small package with multiple utilities as a cricketer!
Specialist wicket-keeper batsmen are the call of the hour and nowadays every team has two specialist keepers in their squad. In fact, the trend has been present since the very beginning whether it was Rodney Marsh, Godfrey Evans, Alan Knott, Jeff Dujon, Syed Kirmani, Mark Boucher or Moin Khan who were all specialist keepers who represented their nation on the merit of their wicket-keeping skills.
Video-Some Catches & Stumping compilation of Eknath Kerkar
“Ekya” as he is fondly called falls into that category of players whose exceptional catching abilities behind the stumps, his quick agile reflexes and his sharp dives have made him an inevitable part of major teams in Mumbai. Eknath who was born and brought up in Mumbai started playing cricket at the age of 12. He did his school from IES New English School while he completed his senior studies from Rizvi College which is famous for churning out talented cricketers.
There have been numerous people who have assisted Eknath in his career so far but the ones who have played a big part in shaping his career have been his coaches Vinayak Mane, Vinayak Samant, Satish Samant, Rajesh Sanil and Manish Bangera. Ekya has so far played for Mumbai at U16, U23, U25 levels while he has also represented Mumbai team in Ranji Trophy which is the dream of almost every aspiring cricketer in Mumbai. Apart from Mumbai he has also represented National Cricket Academy, Bharat Petroleum while he plays Club level cricket from Karnatak Cricket Association Club which takes part in various MCA Tournaments.
There was a time in his early days when he could not afford a cricket kit but he did not gave up on playing his favorite sport. Today he is plonking sixes at Wankhede coming on National television playing in T20 Mumbai for Bandra Blasters. Not only is he known for his stunning diving efforts behind the stumps, he is also known to be one flexible batsman who can adjust at any position with some clean hitting abilities.
Video-Eknath Kerkar batting
The highlight of his career was certainly in 2017 where he scored 5 consecutive back to back hundreds at club level. He ended up scoring 11 hundreds in 2017. Eknath also scored 108* in the finals of CK Nayadu Trophy for Mumbai while scored unbeaten half centuries in his T20 and Ranji Debut!
But before he saw glory there was also a rough phase in 2012-13 Season during CK Nayadu Trophy where he was out of form and things weren’t going his way. When we asked him to dwell further on how he made a comeback, Ekya said “I worked a lot with my coaches, I worked on my technique and mental aspects. At the same time I was very much focused on improving my over all fitness. I would really like to thank my coaches Vinayak Mane, Satish Samant, Rajesh Sanil and Manish Bangera who helped me during my difficult time”
25yr old Eknath is thankful to his family and coaches for his cricketing journey while his passion for the game can be seen when he said that “ I want to play for India and want to become the best wicket-keeper batsman” when we asked him about his goals ahead in the coming years!
After opting to bat first vs KSCA Colts, opener Aakarshit Gomel scored a solid 66 off 145 balls (9 fours, 1 six) . The talented opener who is known for his solid temperament stitched a 150 run stand with Eknath Kerkar who came at no.3. Eknath who scored an impressive 96 vs Rajasthan in the same tournament seems to be having a tricky time in the nervous 90’s as this time he was dismissed by P.Bhatia on 99 runs off 169 balls (12 fours)! However, Mumbai were not done yet as the middle order comprising of Raunaq Sharma and Shashant Attarde stitched an impressive 117 run stand for the 5th wicket. Raunaq Sharma who is known for his clean hitting scored a timely ton hitting 113 off 145 balls (15 fours, 3 sixes) at a healthy strike rate. Shashank Attarde who came at no.7 scored 52 runs off 56 balls proving to be quite handy with the bat. Mumbai eventually posted a healthy 1st innings total on board declaring their innings at 418/9 in 112 overs.
Video-Raunaq Sharma after reaching his ton
KSCA team in reply were all out for 308 runs with Shashank Attarde and Shreyas Gurav bagging 3 wkts each. Mumbai in 2nd innings batted for 49 overs with scoreboard reading 113/7 at the end of the game’s play.
The match ended in a draw with Mumbai leading on 1st innings score while it was an overall good performance from Raunaq, Eknath and Gomel ensuring a big 1st innings total for their team.
DY Patil team is regarded as one of the most powerful teams of Mumbai and there is a reason why they are hailed as powerful! You send DY team in any professional tournament and they will dominate the opposition with their powerful batting and impressive bowling line up!
In the match vs Vidarbha Cricket Association at the Alur-3 Silver Oval Ground, DY Patil team opting to bat first scored a massive 1st innings total which put the opposition under pressure from the very beginning of the match. Despite a shaky top order start, opener Manan Vohra kept his calm and went on to score a marathon innings of 353* in 456 balls laced with 31 boundaries and 13 sixes. It was an innings of pure grace and class as Manan kept on rotating the strike while smashed boundaries at will keeping the scoreboard ticking for DY Patil team. It was a career best innings for Manan while he was ably supported by Shubham Ranjane (45), Sarfaraz Khan (105) & Iqbal Abdullah (101). Sarfaraz and Iqbal at the middle order proved to be quite dangerous scoring runs at a brisk pace while perfectly supporting Manan to ensure a big total on the cards.
Video-Iqbal Abdullah Reaching his hundred
Vidarbha Cricket Association in reply were all out for 385/9 with half centuries by R Sanjay (57), Yash Rathod (54) & Atharva Deshpande (54*). Mukesh Choudhary with 5/80 in 24.4 overs was the pick of the lot maintaining excellent line and length.
Video-Sarfaraz Khan after reaching his hundred
DY Patil were 229/5 at the end of the game’s play after facing 60 overs with Sarfaraz Khan again scoring 100* (137 balls) in the 2nd innings for DY Patil making it back to back tons. Sarfaraz with his supreme batting has certainly proved a point for a strong comeback!
Video-Manan Vohra after reaching his triple hundred
DY Patil won the match on 1st innings lead while it was Manan stealing the show with a record 353*- a knock which he and his club will cherish for a lifetime while it was equally impressive performance by Sarfaraz scoring twin hundreds and Iqbal once again proving to be a more than handy batsman at the middle order.
Coaching in today’s time is a well paid job compared to old times because a lot of money has been coming in now because of the popularity of the sport in our country, as a result lot of new jobs have been created which is good for coaches who makes coaching as their career after their playing days. Every department of the game has opportunities created like for batsman there’s a batting coach, for fast bowlers, there’s a fast bowling coach, for spinners, there’s a spin bowling coach, for fielding, there’s a fielding coach, apart from these roles there are roles for physios, trainers, masseurs which makes the cricketers fit and healthy, even umpiring and scorers job have become a very well paid job. One more new job which has been created is the job of being a throw-down specialist with side arm which is very difficult to master consistently.
The Average Salary for a Coach ranges from 20,000 a month and it can go upto 1 lakh a month for a Top Level/Division Club or an academy. All the IPL coaches make money in upwards of 50 lakhs+ a year, our very own Ravi Shastri takes home around 8 crores a year as the Head Coach of India and even a State Level Coach’s salary ranges from around 20 to 35 lakhs a year varying on the association.
Various earning prospects at Various levels for a Coach-
- Local Level at Club & Academies (MCA Level O)- Average Income/Salary 15,000-45,000/- a month.
- If Hired by Any Cricket Association as a Coach for U14, U16, U19 Teams– Average Salary ranges from 12 to 15 lakhs a year.
- State Level Coach (Level A exams by BCCI)- Average Salary Ranges from 24 to 35 lakhs a year+ Extra Bonus if team wins a particular tournament.
- National level Coach- Average Salary 3 crores to 12 crores a year depending on the country.
- IPL Coach- 40lakhs to 1.5 crores a year
Accenture opting to bat first at Mahi Sports Park, Gurugram posted a healthy total of 172/8 in 20 overs. Opener Daman gave a decent start with a quick 29 ball 36 while it was Sahil Rajput at no.4 who top scored scoring a quickfire 41 off 27 balls. From the bowlers, Kartik with 3/15 in 3 overs was the pick of the lot.
Chasing 173, Accenture bowlers did a very impressive job restricting Hari Nagar XI boys to mere 94 runs all out in 12.5 overs. Hari Nagar’s top order suffered a massive blow with 4 batsmen out of the top 5 falling out for ducks! Wicket-keeper batsman Shekhar fought it out like a lone warrior scoring a brilliant 44 ball 62 out of the team total of 94 runs. Veer Mishra was fantastic with the ball taking 4wkts for mere 7 runs in 2 overs becoming the wrecker in chief with the ball.
Accenture team won the match by 78 runs while Veer Mishra was declared ‘man of the match’
After being put to bat first at Kheda Garhi Ground, Delhi, Delhi Champs Harsh Harmol XI posted an average total of 137/10 in 34 overs. Though most of the batsman found it difficult to score, it was their middle order batsman Harsh Hamrol at no.5 scoring a well fought 55 off 57 balls (6 fours, 1 six). It was a perfect skipper’s knock though he lacked support from the other end. From the bowlers, Keshav with 3/23 was the pick of the lot.
Chasing 138 seemed like a mere formality for the team as Ravi Brothers XI chased it down successfully in mere 17.3 overs winning the match by 7 wkts. Wicket-keeper opening batsman Skand Ahluwalia top scored hitting an aggressive 59 off 32 balls (8 fours , 3 sixes) setting a perfect start for an easy chase!
Ravi Brothers XI won the match by 7 wkts while Skand Ahluwalia was declared “man of the match”
Utility players are always in demand, whether you talk about Vijay Shankar, Kedar Jadhav or Ravindra Jadeja. Players like them are a must in the playing XI as they lend 3 dimensional contribution to the team. They can bat, they can chip in with few overs in between and they can be good athletic fielders too!
19yr old, Ayush Badoni is one such player from Delhi who carved a niche for himself with his aggressive brand of batting alongwith his all-round skills. Born in Dehradun, Ayush was brought up in Delhi where there is an intense competition in the field of cricket. Ayush studied from Modern School BK while he is completing his further studies from Venkateshwara College.
The middle order batsman who practices under Coach Tarah Sinha has represented India in 2018 where he shot to instant fame after plonking 4 sixes in 4 balls vs Sri Lanka stamping his mark as an aggressive batsman. Ayush scored 187* along with 6 wickets in his debut vs Sri Lanka while he was also a part of the Indian team which won the Asia Cup in 2018. It was in the finals vs Sri Lanka, he scored 52* off 28 balls which included those famous 4 sixes in 4 balls.
Ayush has also done well in various U-16 and U-19 tournaments in his domestic career so far. He was one of the 25 participants selected by the National Cricket Academy in 2016 to train and be groomed into a fine polished cricketer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBqVT9wGFmA
Apart from that, Ayush has also represented Delhi U23 team where he has been a part of various marquee tournaments like Cooch Behar Trophy in 2016, Vinoo Mankad Trophy in 2017 and Col CK Nayadu Trophy 2018-19,.
When Cricketgraph asked him about the things he is working on, he said-“i am currently working on carrom ball which i learned recently. My aim this year is to play Ranji Trophy and IPL while my cherished dream is to represent India in tests”