Mumbai's Akre 'fishes' for U-19 success

MUMBAI: He may not have generated the same hype as his "roommate" and "good friend" in the Mumbai Under-19 team, Prithvi Shaw, but Siddharth Akre, the lone Mumbaikar in the India Colts' squad for the two four-day games against England later this month in Nagpur, is a popular figure amongst his peers.
"Since childhood, my idol was Rahul Dravid, but since I began playing for the Mumbai under-19 team last season, I became hugely influenced by Virat Kohli.My teammates feel that I've a similar playing style, and they keep teasing me, referring me as 'Virat Akre,'" says the 19-year-old, who impressed chief selector Venkatesh Prasad while stroking 157 against Andhra in a Cooch Behar Trophy game at the Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana in Kandivli last month. With 520 runs, including two hundreds and three fifties, in six games, Akre, pursuing SY Bcom from Thakur College, was the top run-scorer for Mumbai in the tournament.
The teenage batsman, who'll be ineligible to play for India in next year's U-19 World Cup as he would be past 19 by then, is now keen to make the most of the rare opportunity he has of showing his mettle in front of the world, especially Dravid, who's the coach of the team.
Hailing from the tiny hamlet of Chinchani, located along the Maharashtra coastline in Dahanu district, Akre's initiation into cricket has a Caribbean flavour to it. Born in the 'Koli' community, which has a tradition of producing fishermen (Akre's grandfather was a fisherman too), the boy, who naturally loves eating fish, grew up playing cricket on the village beach.
"My dad and my grandfather both played cricket. I used to go to watch my dad (Nitin Akre used to represent Kandivali CA in club cricket) play 'A' Division games in local cricket. I took my first lessons in the game from him," recalls Akre.
The turning point in his life, though, arrived when his father asked him attend the trials of the U-14 Academy of the Elf Dilip Vengsarkar Foundation at Oval. Akre was selected, but a tough road, which most budding cricketers, especially those who live in far-off areas, undertake, had just begun.
On days when he was supposed to play a match, which would generally begin by 7.30-8.00 am, the boy, then merely 12, would wake up at 3.30 am, take a shower, change into his whites, lug the heavy kitbag onto his slender shoulders, and endure a 15-kilometre long bus/ricksaw journey to Boisar - the nearest station from his home. He would then board a train to Virar, and then switch into another from there to Churchgate, where the Oval Maidan is located. The whole day was spent either travelling for, or playing cricket.
Akre's strictly middle-class background - his father ran a small kirana shop in Chinchani, meant that finance too was an issue, considering that these days, even a good cricket bat doesn't come cheap. A few local politicians, at that time, chipped in with some much-needed help.
Akre's hardwork began to pay off. Following impressive performances for the Elf academy, he was picked for the Mumbai Under-14, Under-16 and Under-19 teams subsequently. "Dilip (Vengsarkar) sir was a big help," he expresses gratitude to the former India skipper, who runs the coaching academy.
Akre's emergence is another indication that there's plenty of talent in the far-flung areas around Mumbai. Shaw hails from Virar, Mumbai pacer Shardul Thakur and Sairaj Patil, who was part of the Mumbai T20 squad recently, belong to Palghar, while Hardik Tamore, Mumbai U-19 captain last season, too comes from Chinchani.