I try to learn from every game, says recent India U19 recruit Divyansh Saxena
Cricket is played by over 5 crore people in India. It's a sport which is followed in every Indian household. The nation stands together when 11 men step out on to the field to represent their country. Almost every kid in the country picks up the cricket bat with the hope of representing India, albeit only a handful of them get to live the dream.
This is the case of a recent under 19 recruit who, with a glimmer of hope in his eyes, set out to fulfil his dream.
Recently, Mumbai's Divyansh Saxena was named in India's under 19 squad to face the visiting South Africa U19 in a two-match series at Trivandrum.
The Mumbai lad made his debut in the first four-day game and made sure that it was a game to remember. South Africa U19 was bundled out for a paltry 197. In reply, India scored 330 as Divyaansh hammered the Protean bowlers all around the park to notch a hundred. The southpaw scored 122 off 224 balls with the help of 12 boundaries and a six.
The 18-year-old had a dream U19 debut and would love to carry the momentum forward. Sportskeeda caught up with the youngster ahead of the second game and the Indian U19 opener revealed some interesting facts about his career.
"I was the Captain of the Mumbai under 19 side last year. The year wasn't going well for me at the start. In the first match of the Cooch Behar Trophy against Delhi, I was not in the playing XI. One day before our game, a player got injured and I had a chance. I was under immense pressure of being dropped but I was determined to score runs," said Divyansh.
"I scored 211 in that game, I knew I was back in form. I made 781 runs in 8 matches of the Cooch Behar Trophy, this is why I got a national call up (U19)," he added, recollecting the events that led to his selection. Divyansh scored two centuries and four half-centuries and ended the tournament with a batting average of 55.79.
The Mumbai batsman started training at the Dilip Vengsarkar foundation and is grateful for their support. "I would like to credit the Dilip Vengsarkar foundation, I started my career there and they've supported me through thick and thin".
Talking about his poor form, Divyansh said, "My bad patch taught me a lot. I changed my lifestyle after that. I started eating right and improved my dietary habits, I started doing meditation which helped me in many ways. I worked really hard, I started to bat for more than two hours every day".
"I try to learn from every game. This is advice from Rahul Dravid sir. He says keep learning and don't repeat your mistakes. I'm aspiring to play the Under 19 World Cup next year. I want to make my debut for the Ranji Trophy team as well," he said, explaining his future plans and Rahul Dravid's role in shaping his career thus far.
The opening batsman has set the bar high as he aims to replicate Virat Kohli's consistency when he steps on to the field. "I really want to be like MS Dhoni as a person. As a batsman, I want to replicate Virat Kohli's consistency," said Divyansh with a smile.
His current assignment is the ongoing series against South Africa U19. After winning the Man of the Match award in the first four-day-game, the youngster would like to excel under the watchful eyes of Dravid.