With father as coach, Swastik eyes IPL berth

HAILING from a family of athletes where his grandfather was a sprinter, his father was a shot putter, Surender Chhikara, who himself was a long-distance runner, always wanted his children to pursue sports.

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However, little did he know to achieve that he not only had to turn into a cricket coach but also develop 12 wickets on his field to make sure his son, Swastik, became a cricketer. As he fittingly said while talking to this daily, necessity is the mother of invention, Surender ended up with a cricket academy named SS Nalanda Cricket Hostel in Ghaziabad that now houses 13 kids trying to make their careers in cricket.

Swastik made his debut for Uttar Pradesh, slamming a century on his Vijaya Hazare debut last month. Before that, the 18year-old hogged the limelight in the UP T20 League slamming three centuries and two halftons. The right-hand batter also appeared in trials for Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals. Given his exploits in the UP T20 League, his father is optimistic about him finding a buyer during the mini-auction scheduled on December 19.

It started in 2008 when Surender, who did NIS diploma in coaching course, saw Swastik's inclination towards cricket. Before him, nobody in the family was a cricketer. "While doing the NIS coaching course, I realised the climate in our country coupled with a few other factors meant it was difficult to produce world-class runners.