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How a father’s challenge - middle 100 balls... win an ice cream - gave India its next top opening-order batsman
Ashok Veer, Siddhesh’s father, left his profession as a lawyer to realise the dream of his son. Ashok used to take his son to training every day
All-rounder Siddhesh Veer is India’s under-19 man for all seasons. The 19-year-old gives his father the credit for his successful cricket career. His cricketing journey began at the age of 11, in Bhor, 50 kilometres from Pune.
Ashok Veer, Siddhesh’s father, left his profession as a lawyer to realise the dream of his son. Ashok used to take his son to training every day.
Veer’s mother Jayshri, a government school teacher, took the onus of being the family’s breadwinner. While Siddhesh and his father stayed in Pune, his mother and sister Shraddha stayed back in hometown Bhor. The sacrifice bore fruit when Siddhesh grabbed headlines in the recently held u-19 World Cup.
Middle the 100 balls and you will get a cup of ice cream — this was the challenge set by Ashok whenever his son would practice hanging ball drills in their two-room apartment.
“He has to middle it 100 in a row. If he missed a ball, the counting would start from the beginning. I would tell Siddhesh that I do not understand cricket in detail, but there is one thing that I know — if the ball hits the middle of the bat, it will produce runs,” said Ashok, who beams with pride after Siddhesh’s memorable stint in the u-19 World Cup.
Ashok said that he first brought Siddhesh to Pune in 2011 when he was in Class 5. After gathering information as to where cricket is played in Pune, he took his son to the Nehru stadium during weekends.
“It was not possible for me to travel 50 kms everyday via the state transport bus. So, I decided to move to Pune with him and join the PYC Hindu Gymkhana Club,” he said.
Ashok’s day often started at 5 am which included preparing meals for Siddhesh, doing household chores and then taking his son for extra practice.
“Support from my friends helped me a lot as they would not charge me rent for the room where we stayed. There were times where we even stayed in shared rooms. My daughter’s education and financial needs of the family made things difficult. However, the support of my friends made everything possible,” said Ashok.
Despite all the difficulties, Siddhesh was focussing only on cricket. He started scoring runs in bulk be it Maharashtra Cricket Association’s invitational matches or club matches.
“He was always determined to play. Even after practice, he used to tell me to bowl on the terrace if he was not satisfied with his performance on the ground. His interest made me realise that my son has the quality to make it big,” said Ashok.
But then came the injury...
After all the hard work, Siddhesh was all set to get selected in the playing 11 for the u-19 World Cup, but he suffered an injury in the shoulder while playing the u-19 Challenger Trophy representing India B.
“We both used to cry on the phone as he was going under rehabilitation at National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru. We thought that we lost a golden chance, but later he was called back as Divyansh Joshi got injured,” said Ashok.
