Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran is playing a Ranji Trophy match against Uttarakhand on Tuesday. Interestingly, it is the first time the 27-year-old is playing a first-class match at the stadium that bears his name. Moreover, Abhimanyu has smashed 46 runs off 42 balls so far and will be eyeing a fifty.
Abhimanyu’s father Ranganathan Parameswaran Easwaran bought a huge land in Dehradun in 2005 and spent an astronomical amount from his own pocket to build a first-class cricket stadium named Abhimanyu Cricket Academy Stadium.
“It’s a proud moment for me to play a Ranji game at a ground where I learned all my cricket as a young boy. This is a result of his (father’s) love and hard work and it’s always a great feeling to come .at home, but once you are on the field, the focus is to win the match for Bengal,” Abhimanyu had said on the eve of the match.
The cricket star has scored 19 hundreds and was recently part of the Indian Test squad in Bangladesh.
While stadiums named after legendary cricketers after retirement is not a new phenomenon, there are not many examples where an active Indian first-class uncapped player would ply his trade in a cricket stadium named after him.
Be it the Viv Richards Ground in Antigua, the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba (Trinidad & Tobago), or the Allan Border Ground in Brisbane, grounds and stadiums were christened after legends ended their illustrious careers.
In this regard, Abhimanyu playing at ‘Abhimanyu Stadium’ is indeed a special occasion for father and son.
“Yes, I don’t think there are many occasions, but for me, this is not an achievement. Yes, it feels good, but the real achievement would be if my son can play 100 Tests for India. This is a stadium that I have built because of my passion for the game and not just for my son,” RP Easwaran told PTI ahead of the Ranji Trophy match.
“I started building (it) in 2006 and I’m still spending out of my own pocket to constantly improve it. There’s no going back, but it’s all about my love for the game.”
A chartered accountant by profession, Easwaran started the ‘Abhimanyu Cricket Academy’ in 1988 even before his son was born in 1995.
“I had been a newspaper vendor and sold ice cream in Dehradun while completing my CA degree. I wanted to return to the game and it is my good fortune that God gave me a son who also plays cricket. But the passion to create a cricket facility was always there. Now I’ve stopped active practice and just relax,” he said.
While he is a proud father of an India ‘A’ captain, what gives him more satisfaction is that his academy has produced five players who are in the Uttarakhand Ranji team, including wicketkeeper Deepak Dhapola, who took eight wickets in the last game.
“Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer and Dinesh Karthik have all come here and practiced at our facility. We have built 60 accommodation rooms, 20 hostel rooms, floodlit indoor practice facilities during the monsoon, state-of-the-art gymnasium, rooms of staff. , in-house laundry, bakery,” Easwaran said.
Bengal Playing XI: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Anustup Majumdar, Manoj Tiwary(c), Shahbaz Ahmed, Abishek Porel(w), Akash Deep, Pradipta Pramanik, Ishan Porel, Geet Puri, Sayan Mondal
Uttarakhand Playing XI: Jiwanjot Singh(c), Kunal Chandela, Aryan Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Aditya Tare(w), Abhay Negi, Mayank Mishra, Akhil Rawat, Avneesh Sudha, Deepak Dhapola, Akash Madhwal
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