HS Sharath: The Karnataka pacer eyes a smoother second spell

A
five-wicket
haul
(5/67)
against
Uttar
Pradesh
in
a
drawn
Ranji
Trophy
match
at
Meerut
in
the
2012-13
season
indicated
a
long
road
ahead
for
him
as
a
Karnataka
cricketer,
if
not
treading
a
higher
plane.
The
spell
captured
all
about
Sharath
as
a
bowler.

Vinay
could
swing
the
ball,
Mithun
played
the
hit-the-deck
enforcer
role
and
left-armer
Arvind
worked
on
the
angles.
But
Sharath
offered
something
different
–
he
used
the
height
to
get
bounce
and
bowled
at
a
tidy
line
to
pile
pressure
on
batsmen.
It
was
not
the
popcorn
stuff
but
as
effective
as
any
of
his
teammates.
Karnataka
were
one
of
those
rare
sides
who
played
with
four
seamers
in
India
domestic
circuit
then.

Sharath
was
also
part
of
the
Karnataka
squad
that
won
back-to-back
Ranji
Trophy
titles.
But
nearly
9
years
later,
Sharath’s
journey
has
been
meandered
into
cracked
roads
and
the
strapping
right-arm
pacer
is
waiting
for
his
second
chance.

Sharath’s
last
match
for
Karnataka
came
in
December
2015
against
Maharashtra
at
Pune
where
he
took
a
match-haul
of
three
wickets
in
a
53-run
defeat.
There
has
been
an
injury
from
which
he
took
more
than
a
year
to
rehabilitate
and
return,
and
upon
his
return
the
competition
too
got
intensified
in
the
form
of
Prasidh
Krishna
and
Ronit
More,
who
made
debut
alongside
him
at
Meerut,
too
became
a
far
more
preferred
name.

The
28-year-old
Sharath,
who
has
taken
86
wickets
from
28
First-Class
matches,
has
not
lost
his
hope,
though.
“The
plan
is
to
take
as
many
wickets
as
I
can
and
hope
to
get
selected.
The
selection
is
not
in
my
hands.
There
was
an
injury
early
in
my
career
but
since
then
has
made
good
progress
on
the
fitness
area
constantly
working
with
the
state
and
NCA
coaches,”
says
Sharath.

It
really
had
not
helped
his
case
that
the
Karnataka
State
Cricket
Association
(KSCA)
domestic
season
last
year
(2020)
was
marred
by
the
Covid-19
pandemic.

“It
was
a
hugely
frustrating
period.
I
wanted
to
play
cricket,
return
to
the
field.
But
there
was
no
cricket.
I
had
to
restrict
myself
to
bowling
at
nets
and
I
should
thank
Rahul
sir
(Dravid)
who
asked
me
to
bowl
at
NCA
nets
regularly,
and
whenever
India
players
at
the
premises
for
a
camp
or
rehabilitation.
It
was
a
good
experience
for
me
to
bowl
at
top
class
batsmen,”
he
says.

There
was
another
useful
by
product
of
that
lockdown
for
Sharath.
“I
made
a
change
in
the
fitness
routine.
I
began
to
concentrate
more
on
training
methods
like
running
than
doing
only
the
gym
work.
As
a
fast
bowler,
I
needed
to
make
my
run-up
strong
to
reap
better
results
and
more
focussed
training
has
helped
me
a
lot
in
that
direction,”
Sharath
offers.

The
targeted
training
seems
to
be
working
in
his
favour
as
Sharath
took
20
wickets
from
10
matches
in
the
Sir
Mirza
Ismail
Shield
(KSCA
Group
1,
Division
1)
tournament
while
playing
for
Rajajinagar
Cricketers,
a
tied
third
with
Kushal
Mahesh
of
Sir
Syed
Cricketers.

Shreyas
Gopal,
the
leg-spinning
all-rounder,
emerged
the
top
wicket-taker
with
27
wickets
from
10
matches
while
appearing
for
Swastic
Union
Cricket
Club
(1),
while
N
Nischith
Rao,
Sharath’s
teammate
at
Rajajinagar
Cricketers,
was
at
second
spot
with
21
wickets.

“It
was
a
great
feeling
to
be
among
wickets
and
it
was
a
sweeter
effort
because
Rajajinagar
Cricketers
emerged
champions
in
the
tournament.
I
am
also
in
constant
touch
with
seniors
like
Vinay
and
coaches
like
Mansoor
sir
(former
Karnataka
pacer
and
coach
Mansoor
Ali
Khan).
Former
Karnataka
coach
J
Arun
Kumar
too
has
helped
me
a
lot
in
coming
up
the
ranks,
but
nowadays
he
is
in
USA
as
their
coach.”

But
how
realistic
he
is
about
a
comeback
to
the
state
side
that
has
a
set
of
new
pacers?
“I
have
to
keep
believe
in
myself
and
keep
doing
the
hard
work.
Prasidh
has
done
really
well
in
the
last
couple
of
seasons
and
hopefully
he
will
get
more
chances
at
the
higher
level.
But
at
the
same
time,
there
can
be
a
vacant
place
in
Karnataka
side
and
I
am
targeting
that.
I
am
confident
of
offering
a
lot
more
to
Karnataka
cricket.

“The
domestic
season
will
begin
in
a
couple
of
months
but
my
real
target
is
the
upcoming
YSR
tournament
in
Karnataka.
We
need
to
qualify
for
the
league
stage
and
if
I
can
do
well
there
then
I
feel
my
case
will
be
presented
in
front
of
the
selectors,”
he
says.

Hopefully,
that
road
gets
smoother
for
Sharath
soon!