Exclusive: "This is what you play cricket for, to represent and do well for India," says Karnataka's upcoming youngster BR Sharath

On a bright sunny afternoon at the Vidarbha Cricket Association in Nagpur in November 2018, just as domestic cricket giants Karnataka were gearing up to kick-start a brand new Ranji Trophy season against Vidarbha, a young man was soaking in the atmosphere as he was in line to make his state debut at the age of 21.

Dashing wicket-keeper batsman Sharath BR had put his blood, sweat, and tears into fine-tuning his skill right from the age of six for this moment. From the dusty fields of Basavanagudi to the green turf at Nagpur, Sharath was living the moment.

The youngster was playing his first competitive longer format game for the state and was one player to watch out for, among the likes of skipper Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun and an array of high-profile players in the team.

Despite already making his senior state team debut in the limited-overs formats, this was a brand new challenge for the youngster, but there was no sense of panic and urgency in his delightful stroke-making. On the third day of his debut Test match, young Sharath made his way to a masterful century and stamped his authority as a star for the future.

Fast forward a little less than a year and on the back of a scintillating run of form, Sharath has earned a maiden call-up to India's U-23 squad, for an ODI series against Bangladesh U-23 beginning on 19th September 2019 at Raipur.

Sportskeeda caught up with BR Sharath in an exclusive chat as the youngster reflects on his journey in light of his selection, the impact of the local circuit on his career and his father's influence over his path to the national setup.

"I started playing for the Basvanagudi Cricket Academy when I was 6 years old. My father's dream was to help young cricketers make a career in cricket and I was fully interested in playing the game. I would pretty much spend the entire day in the field and would get scolded by my mother quite a lot.

Yet, despite all of the backlashes and pressure to study at a young age, Sharath was willing to push through. From a tender age, Sharath played the game only because he loved the sport and only when he turned 14 did he find out that there was a probability of him representing the state of Karnataka.

Soon, Sharath played his first state-organized league when he represented the Mount Joy Cricket Club at the U-14 South Zone tournament. After a good show in that season, only the next year, he was a part of the U-16 setup.

At a particular tournament as part of the U-16 league, I was the highest run-getter for Karnataka and we qualified for the knockouts after a gap of many years. From there, I joined the National Cricket Academy and played for the U19 state team, for a period of three years.

However, despite doing extremely well at the U-16 and U-19 levels, Sharath's major calling came at the U-23 level. In the months of August-September last year, the youngster was a part of the U-23 state team and knew that a good show would propel his chances to land a spot in Karnataka's side for the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy season.

Before the Ranji Trophy started, I played at the U23 level and knew that if I did well, I would be picked for the Ranji team. I carried my form into the U23 state team matches and against Jharkhand, I scored 50 in the first innings and in the second innings, I scored a 55-ball 100 and knew that I then had a chance to get into the Ranji squad.

Indeed, with the selectors recognizing the potential in the young man, Sharath was on the radar of the selection committee and earned a spot in the squad. Soon enough, the youngster made his debut for the side and walked into the bat with the side in some trouble against Vidarbha.

Yet, Sharath claims that there were no butterflies in his stomach as he strode into the middle and was instead full of confidence, ready for yet another exciting chapter in his young career.

Unbeaten on 46 at the end of the second day's play, Sharath had an opportunity to make a mark by notching up a maiden century. True to his style of play, Sharath stroked his way to a debut century and after over two decades, emerged as the first batsman to score a century on debut for Karnataka. However, as he claims, the only thought he had was to win his side the game.

My aim was to win the game for Karnataka, I never thought of scoring a century on debut. I was only looking forward to winning the game for the side on my debut and ensured that I stuck to my basics all through the knock. At the same time, I was not being overconfident and knew that the team was banking on me to put up a big score on the board.

When quizzed about the confidence he had in himself to go out and churn up a special knock, Sharath claims that the exposure from his 40-day trip to England where he was given first-hand access to quality cricket lifted his game.

Yet, he turns the clock back to early on in 2018 when he made his Karnataka debut in the LOI formats and pin-points the encounter against Punjab as part of the Vijay Hazare Trophy that brought about a whiff of fresh air that gave him a whole lot of self-confidence.

I was part of Karnataka's squads for the Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophies. I got a half-century against Punjab, and was able to stitch together an important knock even though they had class bowlers such as Barinder Sran, Manpreet Gony in their side. On the back of this knock, I felt that I belonged here and could play higher levels of cricket.

Karnataka is undoubtedly one state where the love for cricket is unparalleled. One can spot youngsters converting the smallest of gullies into cricket fields and the race to seal a spot in the state team could be quite a task. However, for Sharath, he was not fighting for a spot with big names such as KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair or Manish Pandey.

His sole focus was on nailing the wicket-keeper's spot in the side, one that was occupied by veteran keeper CM Gautam.

My prime focus was on sealing the wicket-keeper's spot. I was competing with CM Gautam for that spot and he is someone who had consistently done really well for the side. I knew I needed to score a whole lot of runs and with age on my side, I was looking to earn a spot as a second wicket-keeper. But to be honest, I never knew I will get a chance this early in my career."

All of 22 years old at the time of writing this piece, Sharath rolled back the years to recollect the time when he kept wickets for the senior state team a few years back that had an impact on his career.

Right from a young age I have been watching the sport and a few years back, I was given an opportunity to keep for the Ranji Trophy team during their practice sessions. That is when my focus shifted, which was not to play for India, but to represent Karnataka. I saw Stuart Binny, Bharat Chipli playing and I wanted to be a part of this setup.

However, Sharath does not shy away from turning back to his roots as he puts his father in the spotlight, with the latter having continuously influenced his son's rise in the domestic circuit.

My real inspiration though, has been my father. He has worked very hard and has pushed me in all the right directions. He took me for practice, helped me hone my skills to get me to this level. I wanted to make him proud for all his efforts and he has played the role of a central figure in my life.

Besides making the most of his father's advice, Sharath also claims that his school coach Vishwanath Sir was another monumental figure during his early days, with the former bringing about some improvement in the youngster's style of play.

Vishwanath Sir helped me a lot during my schooling days. He taught me the importance of playing straight and with a straight bat and continues to give me advice to improve my game. Even now, when I have some good news, I make sure to tell him about the recent developments.

An aggressive batsman who is capable of decimating the best of bowling attacks at the top of the order, Sharath was recently a big part of the Bengaluru Blasters' franchise as part of Karnataka Premier League 2019 and did considerably well as he notched up 126 runs from six matches.

Sharath shed light on the developments he made to his batting style to add a lot more value to his wicket.

I made a major shift in my style from last season to this season. In the previous season, I thought the T20 format was all about hitting but in this edition, I explored my role as an aggressive stroke-maker. I looked to play my game and stay at the wicket and I will take this approach to my batting when I play for India as well.

Just as he prepares to make a mark with the Indian U-23 side, Sharath eases out the weight of expectations on him and looks forward to beginning yet another exciting chapter in his career.

I am very excited to be a part of the national side. There will be some pressure on me, given that I will be representing the country but my personal goal will be to play to my strengths, put up a couple of knocks and win the game for my side. Ultimately, there is nothing like winning a game for India!

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