From playing with plastic bat to Ranji title
| Date :22-Apr-2020 |
(Above) Vidarbha cricketer Siddhesh Wath with family members. (Below) Siddhesh acknowledging his team-mates after a hundred.
By Mahesh S Kale :
CRICKETING legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Wasim Jaffer were only devoted to cricket from the very beginning and they actually lived their life in between the 22 yards. For them cricket was everything and apart from cricket they never particularly liked any other sport. Same was the case with city’s right-hand batsman and wicketkeeper Siddhesh Wath, who from his early youth, picked the bat and ball above everything else. Little Siddhesh, who used to play with plastic bat, would have never imagined that his childhood passion and dedication would make him part of the Ranji Trophy winning team one day. Siddhesh, who has played six First-Class matches till now, has crossed the 50-run mark on two occasions and has also given a splendid performance behind the stumps.
Dr Kishor Wath, father of Siddhesh who is an associate professor at the Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University’s Bar SK Wankhede College of Education said, “Siddhesh always used to play with his plastic bat and ball. I remember him knocking the ball for several hours against the wall. He never liked any other sport. He lived for cricket.” Siddhesh, who was the third highest run-getter in Under-23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy 2019-20 season was enrolled to a cricket academy at the age of six. “Whenever Siddhesh used to have spare time he used to play cricket.
There was even a time when our neighbours started complaining of Siddhesh and other boys who used to play gully cricket for hours and hours. Seeing his obsession with the sport at the age of six we enrolled him at the Ambedkar Cricket Academy,” said his mother Preeti. “Under the guidance of Prashant Bambal sir and other coaches he started his professional cricketing journey and very soon he developed cricketing acumen. Even his team-mates and other seniors at the club used to tell us that Siddhesh plays really well,” Preeti added while talking to ‘The Hitavada’. Siddhesh was always in a hurry to reach the ground even when we used to have guest at our place he used to say, “Aai mala aadhi club la sod mag tula jaynchyashi bolaicha ahe tu bolat bas,” said Preeti.
“I being a principal at the Adinath BEd College, Kamptee and Kishor being an associate professor, we both were more inclined towards academics rather than sports. So we never knew what would be his future like but his passion and dedication for the sport was so immense that we always hoped he achieves what he wants. And as parents we firmly believe that our ward should do what he feels like.” Siddhesh made First-Class debut for Vidarbha in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy, but played only two games in the next season while in 2019 he was not selected owing to his poor performance. During this time he was very depressed and dejected but as parents we supported him completely, said Kishor. “We used to tell him all this is a part and parcel of the sport. And getting rejected on one occasion doesn’t mean its the end of road,” said Kishor. Kishor, who hasn’t seen much of Siddhesh’s cricket, said he still remembers his double century against Chhattisgarh. “I remember him scoring a double ton against Chhattisgarh at the VCA Stadium in Civil Lines during the Bapuna Trophy and it is my favourite moment till date,” Kishor signed off.