From small town with big dreams

Chennai: It's yet another fascinating story of a small-town boy making it big in cricket. Aswin Crist's family shifted from Tharuvaikulam, a fishing hamlet in Thoothukudi, to Chennai only to facilitate him pur sue his cricket dream. So far, Aswin's career has been heading in the right direction -he recently made his Ranji Trophy debut -and in the process the youngster proved that the sacrifices of his family did n't go waste.

“I am fortunate that my father is a former sportsperson. He sought a transfer to Chennai after recognising my passion for cricket,“ said the pacer, whose dad, Antony Chandrasekaran, led the Tamil Nadu volleyball team to title at the Nadu volleyball team to title at the 1991 national championship in Mumbai. Chandrasekaran is cur rently a superintendent of Customs and Central Excise.

Statistics, at times, do not reflect the real picture. The 19-year-old Aswin took only 13 wickets in his nine TNCA first division matches and the Buchi Babu all-India tournament -a curtain raiser to the Ranji season -wasn't rewarding either in terms of numbers. But Aswin impressed the selectors with his ability to rattle batsmen with pace and outswingers.

“I don't have the numbers to show from this season, but I feel I am in good form. I am bowling in the right areas without compromising on pace. I am happy with the way my Ranji career has started and looking forward to doing well at home against Saurashtra,“ said Aswin, who has taken four wickets in four Ranji innings so far.

Three years ago, Aswin had a stint at MRF Pace Foundation and it proved to be pivotal. Pace legends Glenn McGrath and Dennis Lillee made significant changes to Aswin's bowling. “I used to jump out in my run-up that resulted in losing momentum. I was taught to be straighter and it transformed me into a different bowler,“ informed Aswin, a third year B.Com student at Vivekananda.

Aswin also learnt some valuable strategies such as preparing for a match, reading batsmen's mind and setting up the field from the great Aussies. “McGrath also taught me the importance of avoiding injuries and sticking to pace,“ he added.

The Ranji Trophy has been serving Aswin to showcase his latent talent in another department: batting. For someone who has never scored a half-century in the TNCA senior division, his 58-run knock against Uttar Pradesh even surprised himself. Tailender Aswin's sensible partnership with R. Prasanna helped Tamil Nadu post a decent first innings total against UP.

When the two walked back to the pavilion at stumps on day one after an unbeaten 79run stand for the eighth wicket, the entire team gathered at the ropes to cheer the duo. “It was one of the best moments of my career. My job was to hang in there with Prasanna and the effort was appreciated by everyone including coach W.V. Raman,“ said Aswin.

Having pacer L. Balaji as TN skipper, Aswin said, takes pressure off from other bowlers. “He knows the difficulties of a bowler and whenever we made mistakes he understood the circumstances. When I bowled my first spell, he stood at mid-on to make me comfortable. Balaji has been encouraging me a lot,“ he added.

KNOW ASWIN CRIST:

Sports played as kid: Volleyball. My father represented Tamil Nadu in the 80s and was part of the national championship winning team.
Role model: Dale Steyn.
Ambition: My immediate goal is to establish myself as one of the successful bowlers in Ranji. If I keep performing well in domestic cricket, earning an India cap will happen in due course.
Those who played key roles in his career: My Father Antony Chandrasekaran. From a small village in Thoothukudi, he made it big in volleyball. Over the years, coaches such as R.I. Palani, S. Suresh, Madana Gopal, Shanmugam, Senthilnathan and P.C. Prakash have shaped my career. Palani also gave me a big breakthrough by drafting me into the India Cement's first division team, Vijay CC.
Best buddies in Ranji side: I have been friends with B. Aparajith and B. Indrajith since our junior cricket days. We hang out together and go for movies and dinners. We enjoy each other's success and it's good to be in the same team along with them.

TN TEAM FOR SAURASHTRA CLASH: L. Balaji (Captain), Abhinav Mukund, M. Vijay, B. Aparajith, S. Badrinath (VC), Dinesh Karthik (WK), R. Prasanna, Malolan Rangarajan, A. Aswin Crist, J. Kaushik, R. Aushik Srinivas, Vijay Shankar, K.B. Arun Karthik, B. Indrajith, M.
Mohammed. Coach: W.V. Raman. Asst Coach: M. Sanjay.
Physio: P.K. Naveen Babu. Trainer: K. Manoj Kumar.
Masseur: Maria Doss. Video analyst: Lakshminarayanan.