In the words of renowned cricket commentator, Sushil Doshi “Destiny always favors the bravehearts.” Budding Cricketer Aaradhya Yadav ‘s style of playing cricket and his journey gives full justice to this statement. At the young age of 14, Aaradhya has laid new milestones in his game of cricket; not only this, these milestones have the potential to become an epitome for the coming generations.
An interesting fact to note here is that hometown of Aaradhya has no history of producing any cricket wonders, but Aaradhya with his grit and talent was ready to a write a new tale in history. His inspirations are Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist and Indian wicket-keeper dearly known as Captain cool, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He aspires to be like them, but the thought of limited resources and cricket guidance in India has discouraged him to an extent.
Aaradhya’s misery is due to the fact that until a decade ago, participation and making it to the National Cricket team was only accessible to the privileged few. People coming from small towns and villages could only dream about it.
‘Where there is a will, there is a way’. 17 year old, Aaradhya truly believes in these words and recalls that at the age of 6 he was well aware of the fact that taking inspiration from Gilchrist is far beyond the picture of reality. The kind of facilities and environment available in Australia cannot be procured by his parents in India. With time, he started admiring and learning more about Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Aaradhya was genuinely inspired by his struggle coming from humble family background, he prove to be one of the finest gems in Indian cricket team. He tries adapting and learning from each of his quality. The most admirable quality of ‘Mahi’ is to remain calm during challenging situations, and perform marvelously like an all-rounder. He is a great wicket-keeper and even excels in bowling. Aaradhya continues to learn from Mahi with his each game.
Aaradhya ‘s father Ajay Yadav is an inspector in Delhi Police. Speaking upon his cricket career, Mr. Ajay says, “Being a father it was a very perplexing decision for me to make between his academics and cricket. His teachers were very supportive for his game of cricket. In the end, I choose cricket. Today, when I see him playing so passionately and performing so well on the field, it is a moment of pride. It gives me immense contentment watching his dedication and passion for the game.”
In the young age of 8, Aaaradhya started worshipping Cricket. It was only due to his diligent practice, that at the age of 9. Aaradhya managed to position himself in the under 11 Junior Premier League and Junior Cricket League in Delhi. Here he was awarded the title of Best Wicket-keeper & Bowler. Post this dynamic performance on field, he was given the chance to participate in the Under 11 Cricket League in England. However, he was unable to perform well this time.
The year of 2013 brought a ray of hope for Aaradhya when he was given the chance to play in Australia for Under-11 Cricket League. From here began the success tale of Aaradhya, he managed to score a century in his very first match, and got himself the title of ‘Best Batsman’. In 2014, he got a second chance to play in England, where 10 year old Aaradhya managed to score 314 runs combined in 5 matches of the series. Here, Aaradhya was awarded ‘Best Batsman and Wicket-Keeper’. The tours of England and Australia gave a strong boost to the morale of Aaradhya. He kept on improving his form.
TNM cricket Academy, Ghaziabad where Aaradhya’s coach Mr. Ajay Sharma guides young cricketers elaborated upon the improvement scale of Aaradhya and said, “ Aaradhya is one of those players who learns from his own mistakes, and motivates others to do the same. This also becomes a matter of quarrel with his fellow mates sometimes, but later other players appreciate and agree to Aaradhya’s opinions. Aaradhya has a bright future in the game, this can be attributed to the fact that at the age of 12 he has managed to play and win appreciation from Ranji Trophy players. The coach also adds, “ Aaradhya has a strong will to continuously improve himself and his form, this is what makes him stand out. I am very sure that in future we will see him on the highest pedestal in cricket.”
In the past few days, Aaradhya was given the golden opportunity to be the Captain of the Vijay Merchant Trophy for UP under 16 team. He was also the wicket-keeper here. He managed to perform exceedingly well in this match against Aligarh and gave an all-rounder performance. Post, this around November, Aaradhya played in Jaipur against the team of Rajasthan and made 119 runs independently.
In the world of Cricket, Aaradhya is consistently achieving new heights, but his most desired wish remains to be a part of the National Indian cricket team. Also, before entering the team he wishes to take admission in National Cricket Academy (NCA) to polish his skills and game techniques. Aaradhya’s dexterity acts as the push to make himself better every day.
