Dubai: It was around 2004-2005 when I first met Raghavendra, popularly known as Raghu, a throw-down specialist of Team India that won the T20 World Cup in Barbados recently.
While working for a newspaper in Bengaluru, National Cricket Academy used to be part of my regular beat. During those visits to the academy, I found this lean boy sitting in a corner and eagerly watching the action on the field each day.
Getting curious, I struck a conversation with him, but it took some time for the humble and shy-natured boy to open up. But once he did, most of his conversations largely revolved around cricket. It showed the extreme passion he carried for the sport and that prompted me to write about him.
At that point, Raghu was still struggling to find his feet in the sport he loved. But two decades on, today he is one of the key members of the Indian cricket team and plays an important role during the practice sessions.
Huge role
The acknowledgement by Virat Kohli of Raghu’s throw-downs just shows the latter’s prominence in the team. “Facing Raghu’s 150kph deliveries in the nets makes the fastest bowlers seem like medium pacers during matches,” the former Indian skipper once said. “I believe the improvement this team has shown while playing fast bowling since 2013 has been because of Raghu,” Kohli added.
Even during the 2017, Champions Trophy, the star Indian cricketer said, “This man has a huge role in my success today, but his hard work almost always goes unnoticed by the world.”
In appreciation for his efforts, Rohit Sharma got Raghu to hold aloft the trophy during the celebrations after winning the Asia Cup 2023 in Sri Lanka, which clearly showed how highly the skipper rated his contributions to Indian cricket.
Raghu has been an integral part of Team India since 2011. His strength to send the balls at such high speeds makes it easier for Indian batsmen to face pacers on wickets in countries like Australia, New Zealand and England.
So popular are his throw-downs that he was once offered a contract by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for double the salary, which Raghu turned down saying he always wanted to be associated with the Indian team.
Raghu’s early days
It wasn’t an easy journey for Raghu who had to go through a lot of hardships in the early days. Wanting to play cricket since childhood, Raghu left his house with just his bag and Rs21 (less than a dirham) when he realised his father was against him playing cricket.
He landed in Hubli, a city in Karnataka, but with no one to rely on, he spent a few days at the Hubli Bus Stand and a temple before he found a place at a nearby crematorium.
He made it his home for nearly five years and used to train there on a makeshift ground. But a fracture to his hand ended his dream of playing cricket. Nevertheless, determined to be part of the sport, he turned his focus to cricket coaching.
That’s when he started assisting cricketers in Hubli by giving them throw-downs and helping them during practice.
A while later, through a reference, he landed in Bengaluru where he found a place to stay at the Karnataka Institute of Cricket. He starting giving throw-downs to Karnataka cricketers who came to practice there and also helped them with the bowling machine.
That’s when former Karnataka wicketkeeper Tilak Naidu saw him and was impressed. He introduced him to former Indian pacer and current match referee Javagal Srinath and things started to look up for Raghu.
Srinath was amazed with Raghu’s commitment and invited him to join the Karnataka Ranji team and also simultaneously the NCA. Though he wasn’t getting any monetary benefits, his sheer passion kept him going.
He completed the BCCI level-1 coaching course during this time and also helped Indian team players during their visit at the NCA.
He started becoming popular with the Indian team and Sachin Tendulkar was among the first to recognise Raghu’s talent. He was appointed as training assistant with Team India in 2011 and he has been serving the Indian team with dedication until today.
His struggles have ended but the small town boy still remains grounded. Recently when Team India was at the Bengaluru airport, he recognised me in the crowd and we had a quick chat before he rejoined the team. Mind you, we hadn’t met for nearly two decades.
