India U-19 batter Shaik Rasheed destined to make it big: M.S.K. Prasad

Seventeen-year-old Shaik Rasheed may have had a disappointed walk back to the pavilion after missing what looked a thoroughly deserving century (94) against Australia in the Under-19 World Cup semifinal on Wednesday.

But, it is obvious that the Guntur-born Andhra cricketer, who is also the India vice-captain, didn’t disappoint his mentor and former BCCI senior selection panel chairman M.S.K. Prasad.

“From the day I saw him, I never had any doubt about him making it big. He has all the qualities of a wonderful, all-round cricketer — has great passion for the game and is extremely hard-working,” MSK told The Hindu a day after captain Yash Dull, who scored a brilliant century, and Rasheed helped India drub Australia in the semifinal.

With his father, who worked in a fertiliser shop and did some odd jobs, realising that Rasheed had the talent and backing him completely, the young cricketer had the liberty to fully concentrate on his game, MSK recalled.

MSK said Rasheed was the product of the ACA residential academies project. During his stint as Director of ACA (Cricket Operations) he ensured every district in Andhra Pradesh had a full-fledged cricket academy and ground with all facilities.

U.K. stint

Going further back, Prasad said since Rasheed was a gifted cricketer, he was sent to the UK for special training at the age of 13 as ACA then had a tie-up with Cricket Beyond Boundaries started by Dr. Sameer Pathak.

In fact, Rasheed stayed in the UK for a couple of months and even played local league matches at Barnard Castle.

“That was possible because of our then ACA secretary Dr. G. Gangaraju and the academy mentor Kinjal Suratwala,” he concluded.