At 23, he’s a face to reckon with in team Karnataka. An all-rounder who plays for India A, India Green and the Mumbai Indians, this youngster is all set to display his skill at the Karnataka Premier League. Meet the gritty Shreyas Gopal, who will be playing for Namma Shivmogga this KPL season. Ask him what he’s expecting from the tournament and he says, “It’s going to be really interesting.
It’s a good opportunity for all of us to play under the lightsand cameras, so it will be a good exposure. We will have the best talent in Karnataka, so I’m looking forward to it. Each team is evenly balanced and they all have their strengths, so it’s going to be a great contest between bat and ball. Also, a lot of boys get picked into the IPL teams through the KPL, so it’s a big platform.”
Having played for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL for three years, Shreyas calls the experience a great one. “You get to share the dressing room and rub shoulders with the best in the world. They also share their experiences with you,which you can apply in your game and it will definitely help you,” says the youngster.
Currently busy with the Duleep trophy, Shreyas got to play with the pink ball for the very first time. “It was a different experience. As this is something that’s never happened before, we couldn’t relate to how the wickets would behave. But it went on really well,” he says.
As he reminisces his initial days with cricket, Shreyas reveals that he was just about five or six when he made friends with the game. He was a student of Frank Anthony Public School when he started playing at the Brijesh Patel Academy. While growing up, he looked up to Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar among the batsmen. As for the bowlers, his idols were Anil Kumble and Shane Warne.
“Anil sir’s accuracy and the way he kept finding ways to make it very hard for the batsmen to score any runs, were some things I admired. He was our coach in Mumbai Indians, so I had the opportunity to speak to him and he really helped a lot,” says Shreyas, who currently plays at the Karnataka Institute of Cricket.
The young all-rounder is a huge sports buff and loves to play badminton and table tennis when he manages to get some time off cricket. “I also love to watch films with my friends and spend time with my family. I’m more of a Bollywood fan and I really like suspense movies and thrillers,” he shares.
