Shreevats eager for tips from Boucher, Kallis

But the spunky wicket-keeper from faraway Liluah reckons that he isn’t too disappointed for missing out on making it to Kolkata Knight Riders, which is his home team.

The young left-hander, who shone with the bat and behind the stumps in the Under-19 Indian team’s emphatic World Cup victory in Malaysia earlier this month, is yearning to run shoulders with big names from the international arena.

Speaking to The Indian Express recently, young Shreevats pointed out that he is desperately waiting to interact with the South African heavyweight duo of Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis. The two players are part of the high-profile Bangalore outfit which is owned by liquor baron Dr Vijay Mallya.

“I am extremely anxious to catch up with Boucher. He’s a wicket-keeper of huge stature, and it will be a great thing for me to learn a few tricks of the trade from him. I can only imagine the amount of help that I will get from one of the most experienced wicket-keepers in world cricket in recent years,” gushed 19-year-old Shreevats.

The youngster from Bengal carved out two telling half-centuries in the Under-19 World Cup, playing as an opener, and came up with a fairly neat job behind the stumps. The diminutive left-handed opener didn’t shine with the bat in the final against South Africa in Kuala Lumpur, scoring just six runs, but he impressed with his overall performance in the fortnight-long tournament.

Shreevats, who plays for Bhowanipur Club in Kolkata, is particularly looking forward to going through the paces at the nets with Boucher. “I want to find out a lot of things from Boucher on the technical front. I am young, and I have plenty of things to learn. With Boucher around in the IPL team, what else can I ask for? I am sure the nets sessions will be a very important chapter of my life,” he said.

Looking back at the colts’ World Cup win, the young gun reckons that it’s time now to look at the future rather than just keep talking about the successful campaign in Malaysia. “The World Cup was a great win in our lives. But we all have to look forward to launching ourselves at a higher level. I guess, for me and for my teammates of the World Cup, the IPL will be a serious platform to prove ourselves and find our way into the national team someday,” Shreevats explained.

As for whether he has earmarked any particular area of concern that he would love to discuss with Boucher, Shreevats says that it’s the mental front more than anything else. “I want to ask Boucher how to handle things at the highest, on the mental front. International cricket is a different ball game altogether, and Boucher will be able to give me valuable advice on how to be mentally prepared for that level,” he said.