From Kalakudi to TNPL: Story of pacer Esakkimuthu

"IF there was one bouncer that changed my life, that was it," recalls iDreams Tiruppur pacer A Esakkimuthu of a contest that would end up becoming the turning point of his cricketing journey.

- GOMESH S @Chennai

A Bachelor of Social Work student with Urumu Dhanalakshmi Arts College, Esakkimuthu was going up against a senior batter from Bishop Heber College, Yuvaraj in a Tiruchy district league game.

"He was batting well, taking on other bowlers, but I troubled him. After the match, he called me and spoke with me. 'Come with me, I will take care of your career,' he promised," he remembers. For Esakkimuthu, it was a huge leap of faith. Hailing from Kalakudi, a small village in Tirunelveli district, all Esakkimuthu had dreamt of was playing cricket. Right from the time he, a class nine student, sat in front of a television and watched franchises fight over T Natarajan in an IPL auction. He wondered if he would ever be able to replicate it. At the time, all he knew was rubber ball cricket.

When he went to an U-16 selection trial in Tirunelveli and got selected, Esakkimuthu could not continue because of his family's situation. Two years later, he was not picked in the U19 trials. Cricket became a 'veri' (a burning fire within) for him.