Passion drives Anantapur lad to excel in cricket

Anantapur: D B Prashanth Kumar, crafty batsman of Ranji Trophy, developed love for cricket when he was below 10 years of age. Coming from a family of sportsmen, he drew inspiration from his father and brothers, whom he used to watch while they were playing cricket. Prashanth emerged as a batsman of par excellence while playing for his school in the backward Anantapur district. He started playing cricket from the age of 12.

In 2003, he played for the under-13 team at the district-level and in 2008 for the under-19 at the state-level. Since 2010, Prashanth started playing for the Ranji Trophy. So far, he played 50 matches for Ranji Trophy on behalf of Andhra Pradesh in all the states. 

Recalling his past performances during a chat with 'The Hans India' Prashanth echoes that he scored 120 not out registering his second century this season and the eighth of his career at the Tripura Ranji Trophy in November 2017. 

Emerging from the shadow of skipper Hanuma Vihari, the soft-spoken lad drew the spotlight on himself, cuts and drives through and behind square mostly bringing in 16 boundaries. Tripura invited the Prashanth to bat and should have regretted the move. But for the dismissal of K S Bharat caught by first slip Udiyan Bose off Murasingh, the home side made no further inroads till lunch.

Its four-pronged pace attack supplemented by Gurinder Singh’s left-arm spin made little impact on the second wicket pair of Prasanth and Vihari, the duo adding 108. When stumps were drawn, Ricky Bhui  was on 49 and Prashanth on 120. 

Replying to a question, Prashanth stated that he was more performance oriented and never sought anybody’s push for his promotion to international fame. 

He said that he believed in god-ordained destiny for him. He chose cricket as a career out of passion for the game, he states. Asked if he loves to represent the country in international matches, he stated that he is not ambitious but if destiny decides so he is ready to make use the opportunity, he adds. Prashanth is an employee of Centre Auditor General (CAG) in Hyderabad.