Atharva Taide: Captain Cool #pkyblog #pkyvlog

Atharva Taide: Captain Cool

By Pradeepkumar Yadav

HE IS cool and calm, never getting irritated even by silliest of things. But that is just one side of this talented youngster. At times, he lets his hair down, acts funny and cracks jokes to bring the house down. But when he is on the field, the joke is always on the opposition! Meet Vidarbha Under-19 captain Atharva Taide, who scored career best 320 runs in the final of Cooch Behar Trophy. The Akola boy became the first U-19 skipper to lift the trophy for Vidarbha, on Wednesday.
Atharva is now the second player who has scored a triple ton in the final of the U-19 after Yuvraj Singh. The captain led from the front playing seven matches and scoring 669 runs including one hundred, one fifty and a triple ton.
“For me the best innings is the century against Punjab because my team was in need. We planned according to that. We won the toss and made it clear that we will put big score on the board. So it was my big responsibility to give a good start to the team. I am happy that I did that and scored 124 runs in first innings,” Atharva said, when asked about his best innings in this tournament.
The 18-year-old credited Umesh Patwal at the VCA Academy for bringing a change in his game. “At the start of my career I was shy of playing big strokes. But after I got selected in the VCA Academy, Umesh Patwal Sir changed my thought and motivated me to open my shots. That has helped me a lot. In Vinoo Mankad U-19 One-Day Trophy I scored 391 runs in five matches that I played. I was the second highest run getter in India with an average of 156. That form has continued till today,” Atharva told ‘The Hitavada’.
Among the many positives of Vidarbha team this year, Atharva’s captaincy ranks the best. Cool and calm under pressure, his leadership is critical to Vidarbha’s consistency as a team.
“The way he handles the team is brilliant. He always thinks of the team and asks us to share our thoughts. It boosts our morale and brings positivity in the team,” said Nayan Chavan, one of the members of the winning squad.
Atharva did his schooling till Std VII at Mount Carmel in Akola. From Std VIII onwards, he joined Bishop Cotton School, Nagpur. He is now pursuing his 12th from Dr Ambedkar College. In between, he was selected for U-19 Asia Cup and Challengers too. He scored a valuable century for India Red against India Blue in the Challenger Trophy.
The left-handed batsman is one of the success stories of Akola district. He is the third to hog the limelight now after Aditya Thakre, who is representing India U-19 at the World Cup, and Darshan Nalkande.
“He (Atharva) is a very mature, calm and composed boy. You’ll see in his batting performance that a difficult situation brings out the best in him,” stated Bharat Dikaar, Atharva’s cricket coach from Akola.
The inning which Atharva played in the final showed how calm and composed he is. Many of his friends and family members are of the opinion that no matter how much you try poke him the cool head just never loses sanity.
“Since childhood Atharva had the goal of becoming a cricketer. He took lots of pains for that. From school he used to directly go to the ground. At the age of 11 he scored his first century. By seeing his love towards cricket I bought a bowling machine at home. That helped Atharva a lot. It saved his time and gave more time for his practice,” said Yayati Taide, Atharva’s father.
“Nattu (Atharva’s nickname) is very cool and target oriented. He never played for himself, he always wanted that his team should win,” added Harsh Sarate, who used to play with Atharva in childhood.
Another friend, Kartik Kulat said, “When he was selected for the Asia Cup we all friends and family members were excited but Atharva was cool and relaxed. He said ‘it’s good that I am in team but I have to make this a habit now’. There was not an iota of excitement on his face. This is his confidence and focus”.
Atharva translated that confidence in the Cooch Behar triumph. And he was prompt enough to thank Usman Ghani, the coach, for instilling belief in the team.
“From Usman Gani Sir we learned about the winning habit. He taught us to fight. Whatever the situation, sometimes even hopeless, Sir would always bring some unique idea to tackle it,” said Atharva as he collected the prestigious silverware as captain.

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