Chander Thapa,19,doesnt believe in having a batting idol. Or rather a single one. His reason is that whoever is in form will motivate him to keep his performance levels high at all times. Keeping this principle,the current flavour of the month is Chris Gayle,replacing Kevin Pietersen. What remains common for Thapa that he only seems to idolise big hitters. Its not that surprising after a look at his own batting. Of average height but muscular build,Thapa seems always to get to the pitch of the ball and hits it out of the park. Thapa who has earlier represented Delhi in the U-15 and U-16 categories,and has been the highest run getter in the U-15 category for Delhi,displayed some his batting skills on Tuesday when he smashed a swashbuckling 56-ball 82 against RP Academy in the GG Dutt Memorial cricket tournament. His knock consisted of six massive hits that not only sailed over the rope but landed on the outer boundary of the Stephens periphery. Batting for Gush Academy he entered when his side were slipping in a chase of 252. Thapa continued to play in his trademark fashion and bailed his team out. He was especially ruthless on the spinners. Thapa may have won the Man of the Match award but his happiness was incomplete as he rued missing out on the three figure mark. This has always been the case with me. I will reach 70s and 80s and then I make mistakes. This is also one reason why I dont make it to the state team. Hundreds speak for themselves while half centuries lack that punch. In the coming matches,I am going to work out on my mistakes and hope to stay a bit longer on the wicket, says Thapa. Since the coming season will also be his last try for the U-19 level,Thapa plans on leaving no stone unturned. After being considered in the probables list for the last season for Delhi,he was left out of the final selection despite being in superb form through out 2010. But he knows that what let him down and made his task tougher were the knocks which were not converted into hundreds. As I said,I have already scored more than 300 runs in the leagues and I am in a good knick this year. Hopefully I will get the runs I need to make my dream come true, says Thapa,a student of Ravindra School. Training under coach Chandrashekhar Sharma for the last six years,Thapa is entirely dependent on him for cricketing input. Cricket is my dream and I know I have to be serious. So what ever sir asks me to do,I follow that. My entire day has been chalked out by him which has emphasis on fitness and skill training. Other than the schedule,I love to swim to enhance my fitness levels, he adds. Hailing from family of modest means,equipment has always been a problem for him. Thankfully,his school helps out and now that he plays for top city clubs,senior players also support him. In my starting days,I used a find it difficult but now my school arranges my equipment and Kuunal (Lall) bhaiyaa helps me a lot equipments. It is great to play under such seniors, Thapa says happily. Brief scores: RP Academy 251 all out in 40 overs (Milind Tondon 53,Manik Tondon 66,Vaibhav Rawal 59,Farman Ahmed 2/49,Vivek Sharma 2/46,Kandvil 2/47); Gush Cricket Club 255 for 6 in 37.2 overs (Vivek Srivastava 66,Farman Ahmad 36,Chander Thapa 82,Lalit Gautam 31 n.o,Ketan Pawar 2/51)
