BENGALURU: Unable to break into the Maharashtra U-10 tennis squad after figuring among the probables, a heart-broken
Abhishek Reddy soon shifted base to Bengaluru in 2005 to pursue his dream of playing tennis at the highest level.
The youngster was now keen on joining a tennis academy at Palace Grounds but he was disappointed again as the summer batch was full. He then spotted a cricket academy nearby and without wasting time he enrolled himself. The following year, Reddy was named in the Karnataka U-13 squad and since then he has been one of the mainstays for the state in all age-group tournaments.
After a memorable first class debut when Karnataka clinched the
Irani Cup
2014-15, Reddy missed out the 2016-17
Ranji Trophy season after suffering a career-threatening
Anterior Cruciate Ligament
injury during the 2016
Karnataka Premier League
.
He had given up hopes of any comeback, but a double ton at the
Safi Darashah
tournament and another unbeaten 155 for KSCA XI in the Thimmappiah All-India tournament brought him back into the 16-member Karnataka squad for the upcoming Ranji Trophy clash against Assam beginning in Mysuru on October 14.
"It feels good to be back in Karnataka squad. I was out of action for eight months due to the injury. I had given up hopes of a comeback but after the surgery I gradually gained fitness. The double hundred in Safi Darashah and a century in Thimmappiah tournament boosted my morale," the right-hand batsman, who scored 54 & 31 runs in Irani Cup, said.
"I sustained the injury while fielding during a KPL match in 2016. Instead of resting, I went and batted which aggravated the injury," said Reddy, adding that his time away from cricket helped him clear all his 12 papers pending from his BBM degree course.
With
KL Rahul,
Manish Pandey and
Karun Nair
not in the squad owing to their national commitments followed by the absence of Robin Uthappa, who moved to Saurashtra, Reddy will be expected to bolster the top-order.
"We are ready to take up the responsibility. We will miss players like Rahul, Pandey and Uthappa but every other player in the squad comes with solid performances in the lead up to Ranji. We are a balanced team and we look forward to win another Trophy," Reddy said.
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