A humble, yet determined bloke from Shahabad, Gulbarga, this small town lad made news when he took a remarkable hattrick in recent the KPL semi-final. A chat with 22-year- old Anand Doddamani will certainly leave you smiling as his simplicity and passion to make it big is evident during the conversation. The cricketer, who played for the Belagavi Panthers, which went on to win the KPL trophy, spoke to us about his journey from the gullies to the city, his admiration for Manish Pandey and more...“My KPL experience was really nice – I got to play all the matches and we bowled well in the semis. I don’t think anybody expected the hattrick, especially in a big game. It was great to see two hattricks in the same innings,” beams the bowler, who created a record with co-hattrick taker D Avinash and went on to win the ‘Man of the Match’ award.The youngster is glad to have mingled with seniors in the squad and shares,
“Aravind (Sreenath) was a great captain and the other players like Stuart Binny and Manish Pandey guided us well. That gave me more confidence.”
Anand Doddamani
As he reminisces his early days, Anand reveals that he took to the game when in sixth grade. He started by playing gully cricket and in school tournaments and soon, his coach Mr. Arshad Hussain called him home and trained him in his camp.
The move to the big capital seemed surreal for this bowler. “I didn’t understand anything as I had not travelled anywhere before. I was always at home! I was thrilled to move to a city like Bengaluru and that’s when I decided that I have to play well and stay here in the future as well,” says the driven cricketer, who stays at the Just Cricket Academy in Yelahanka. Ask him about his inspirations in the sport and he instantly says, “Daniel Vettori is my absolute favourite – I’m also a left-arm spinner just like him. I like Yuvraj Singh too his hard work is commendable. I’ve learnt a lot from them.”
When it comes to the current Indian team, he can’t help but praise Bengaluru boy Manish Pandey. “I’ve played with him for three years. I played my first KPL, thanks to him. In the Karnataka first division league, I took 50 wickets, he noticed that and recommended me for the Mysuru team. Thanks to him, I played the KPL for three years. He’s supported me a lot and even now, he calls me and asks if I need anything and helps me,” smiles Anand, who wants to perform better and play the Ranji Trophy and of course, for India.
