Inspired by Ashwin and Lyon, TN youngster J. Hemchudeshan shows signs of a glittering future
Inspired by Ashwin and Lyon, TN youngster J. Hemchudeshan shows signs of a glittering future
For a young spinner, having been a pivotal part of his team’s milestone title-winning campaign is a measure of where he can be.
With 47 wickets from 15 innings at an average of 15.23 in the recently-concluded BCCI U19 Cooch Behar Trophy, Tamil Nadu off-spinner J. Hemchudeshan shows immense promise.
He’d been an indispensable asset with a wicket per 35 balls (Strike Rate of 34.89) at a miser-tight economy of 2.61 in Tamil Nadu’s title win after a long gap of 33 years.
In a telephonic interview with Sportstar on Tuesday, he said that playing his first two matches at home and picking up 18 wickets helped him gain momentum. He had match hauls of eight for 55 and ten for 89 against Goa and Chhattisgarh in Theni.
“I just rode the momentum till the end. We played five home matches (four in Theni and one in Dindigul). I performed particularly well in those matches, picking up many wickets in Theni,” said the 16-year-old.
He had three five-wicket hauls, but his most memorable is the one against Maharashtra (five for 46) in the semifinal, which Tamil Nadu won by eight wickets in Pune. Four of his five wickets came on the second day.
“They were 260 for five on the first day. The next day, I was able to bowl them out quickly for 300 (306),” he said.
Hemchudeshan, who said he focuses on bowling at the stumps and can bowl at least 20-30 overs per innings, likes red-ball cricket due to its “serious” nature.
“If it’s a multi-day match, it’s game on until the end. It’s a serious game. It’s like life,” he said.
Inspired by R. Ashwin and Nathan Lyon, Hemchudeshan also imitated the former’s bowling action when he was younger and even bowls the carrom ball, which he picked up from watching Ashwin.
“I picked it up from him and then trained with my coach to have it as my variation.”
Hemchudeshan will register for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) auction as a bowling all-rounder.
“I want to play in the Ranji Trophy and for India U19,” he added.
