November 16, 2021 turned out to be a turning level in Abhinav Manohar Sadarangani’s profession. Making his debut for Karnataka, the right-hand batsman smoked a 49-ball 70 – together with two fours and 6 sixes – in opposition to Saurashtra within the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 event.
Abhinav’s childhood coach Irfan Sait feels that knock modified the teenager’s life.
“I started receiving endless calls from several IPL teams, enquiring about him, asking for his batting videos. There were questions such as how he is built and how big a six he can hit. Is he a middle-order batsman or a top-order one,” remembers Irfan.
Karnataka misplaced the Syed Mushtaq Ali last, courtesy a last-ball six by Tamil Nadu’s Shahrukh Khan, who was picked by Punjab Kings for a whopping Rs 9 crore in Saturday’s public sale. Manohar left his mark on the event with 162 runs in 4 innings at a strike charge of 150. His efficiency was rewarded when he was referred to as for choice trials of at the least half a dozen franchises.
The right-hand batsman was purchased by Gujarat Titans for a ‘mic-drop’ deal of Rs 2.6 crore, 13 instances greater than his base worth. Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals began the bidding. The contest grew to become fiercer, with Gujarat Titans coming into the fray when it crossed Rs 1 crore mark. Delhi Capitals finally opted out, and Gujarat pipped Kolkata to signal the rookie.
Irfan shouldn’t be stunned that his ward has acquired such an attention grabbing deal. “Those who follow the Karnataka Premier League will tell you how good a batsman and fielder he is. This is a new franchise, and I hope he gets a handful of matches to showcase his six-hitting ability.”
Irfan vividly remembers a six-year-old child Manohar coming to his academy 20 years in the past. The child who was initially scared to face the ball is now often called a hard-hitting batsman.
“He was never into cricket. He was scared of facing the bowlers when he first came to my academy. His father (Manohar Sadarangani) and I are very good friends. They used to have a footwear shop, and I was running a clothing shop on Commercial Street in Bengaluru. His father asked me once to enrol him in my academy. I was a bit reluctant because he was never interested in cricket. I said I will give it a shot,” says Irfan.
Manohar and his first cousin Sharanya Sadarangani began taking part in cricket on the academy. Slowly, Abhinav began to take curiosity, however the ardour was missing.
“It became a routine for him. After school, his father would drop him off, and then pick him up in the evening. There was nothing special back then,” says the 60-year-old coach.
It all modified in 2006. “Our academy played a practice match against the Hyderabad state U-14 team. A ball hit him (Manohar) in the forehead (the scar is still there), he was bleeding. We took him to the hospital; he got a couple of stitches. Deep down in my heart, I was sure he was never coming back. The next day, he was there, and scored a brilliant century. If you ask me, that was the turning point in his cricketing career,” says Irfan.
Manohar’s sister Sharanya went to England after taking part in age-group cricket for Karnataka and presently seems for the German nationwide girls’s cricket group. However, Abhinav determined to remain; he has been a constant performer by the age teams. He confronted monetary duress when his father needed to shut his footwear store, after which a few extra companies as a consequence of monetary loss.
“They went through really tough times. For a teenager, it wasn’t easy to endure. However, all of his aggression was reflected in his batting. He started training three times a day. Suddenly a kid, for whom cricket was just a hobby, took it as a passion,” narrates Irfan.
Manohar, a constant performer on the junior stage, had didn’t make it to Karnataka’s aspect, which has the likes of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair and Manish Pandey.
“He has scored runs in U-14, U-16, U-19 and U-23 levels, but was never able to break into Karnataka senior team. It was not his fault; you look at Karnataka’s batting line-up, it is stacked. But I am glad that when he got the opportunity, he grabbed it with both hands,” says the coach.
“He was among the top five run-getters in the state league. Within a month, he had made his Karnataka senior team debut, and now this IPL contract. What else can a coach ask for!” he says.
“Today was an off day in our academy; we were glued to the TV for the auction. The day was not wasted at all.”
