Parikshit Valsangkar: From warming the bench for 4yrs to Mumbai’s Promising All-Rounder
It was in 2006 when his coaches spotted the talent in a 10yr old kid and insisted his father to send him to VN Sule School did his journey start in Cricket. Cut down to 2019, he has represented Senior Mumbai Team in Zonal T20’s, Mushtaq Ali Trophy and is also playing in T20 Mumbai League.
Speaking with Cricketgraph, “Parikshit said-My dad used to be very fond of cricket. He took me to the summer coaching at Nirmal Cricket Academy in Mulund West. While practicing there, the coaches Raju Shirke and Ravi Thakker spotted me and told my dad that i can play better cricket for which i need to take admission in V N Sule Guruji School at dadar and that’s how my journey started from 6th standard”
The spark was quite evident in him when he scored a scintilating 367 for IES VN Sule vs St. Mary’s in the 2009 Giles Shield, a marathon knock which he and his school may cherish forever.
Born in Kalyan and brought up in Mulund, Parikshit who was born on 24th February 1995 did not had the easiest of journeys. Parikshit was in probables almost every year since he was 13 but could not make it any of the young age group level teams of Mumbai. However, Parikshit without blaming anyone himself admitted “i was not an up to the mark cricketer then”, the kind of confessions not many cricketers like to do or accept!
Parikshit sat out for 4 consecutive years for several clubs where he did not got a single game to play. At the age of 19, he got a call from New Hind Club where he said “ I warmed the benches there too” before finally getting a chance to play for Bank of India. Parikshit believes it was his stint with the Bank of India Team which improved him a lot as a cricketer. It was after his good performance with Bank of India, he got two games to play for New Hind & that’s how he became a regular fixture of New Hind’s team.
Soon the tides turned, he finally started getting opportunities, so did the performances came along. He started performing consistently at the local level across various MCA Tournaments. Parikshit from being a dropped player mostly warming the benches represented Mumbai U23 in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he won Col CK Nayadu Trophy playing for Mumbai side while he also emerged to be the highest wicket taker in A Division playing for Tata Sports.
As we saw, the journey was’nt that glamorous but the fact that he did not quit, he did not gave up, kept patience, did the hardwork and performed whenever he got an opportunity helped him progress in the sport which he and his father loved.
Parikshit shared: “I am very thankful to the committee of New Hind Club-Ramesh Vajge, Shailesh Manjrekar, Yogesh dicholkar. They picked me when i was a very ordinary cricketer. I also want to thank Bhavin Thakkar who supported me a lot and still supports me, he is my go to man. Then playing with Surya Kumar Yadav in T20 Mumbai and a few T20 matches for Senior Mumbai team helped me learn a lot from a senior player like him”
“I also thank Vinayak Samant(Coach) and the selection committee under whom i made my U23 debut. I thank my Captain Mr. Eknath kerkar who supported me throughout the Ck Nayudu and made sure i do well. I will always be thankful for that”
“And above all my guru Gopal Koli sir who is next to God for me. I started playing School Cricket under him and without his support I would have been nothing. Last but not the least, I also thank my father for my entire cricketing journey, he has always supported me selflessly. His dream is to see me play at higher levels of cricket and he is the reason I started playing cricket”
When we asked him about his goals-Parikshit said “i want to make it into the Ranji Trophy Team this year” We at Cricketgraph wish the budding all-rounder all the luck for a great career ahead.
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