For Aryaman Birla, overcoming failures is just another step in the success wheel
Aryaman Birla
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For Aryaman Birla, overcoming failures is just another step in the success wheel. Business tycoon Kumar Mangalam Birla's son, who decided to skip the confines of an air-conditioned office environment and man up to the rigours cricket has on offer, was announced skipper of the Madhya Pradesh U-23 side that will play in the BCCI one-dayers from today. To gear up for the tournament, the MP side were in the city for a quadrangular invitational tournament. Aryaman received his first jolt as skipper when MP lost all three of their matches — against Mumbai 'A' (by one wicket), Vidarbha (by seven wickets) and Mumbai 'B' (by 60 runs).
Different ball game
However, he chooses to look at the bright side. "Yes, it was not the ideal preparation, but match time is always good. Together as an under-23 team, we played white ball cricket for the first time. There is a slight shift mentally, it's pretty different to four-day cricket, but we have a strong team. We have Ranji Trophy players like Avesh Khan, Mukul Raghav, Ashwin Das and Venkatesh Iyer," Aryaman told mid-day recently.
It wasn't a happy homecoming for son, who left the sweltering heat of the Mumbai maidens in 2014 and decided to move to Rewa, a small town in the north-eastern part of MP. But he is determined to make amends in the BCCI event. MP play their first match against Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) in Nagpur today. "This is a good responsibility. I am looking forward to it and I'm sure it will keep me in good stead. There are a lot of senior players in the team who I can always consult, both on the field and off it as well," he added. Take away the last couple of performances, the season has been memorable for Aryaman, 20, who made his Ranji Trophy debut last November in MP's seven-wicket win over Odisha.
His breakthrough performance came in the U-23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy in October last year against Chhattisgarh when he hammered a brilliant 230. That knock was preceded by centuries against Odisha and UP. He also smashed 118 in December against Saurashtra in Rajkot. "People recognise me now as a cricketer and accept me for that. I happy about that," he added.
All-round objectives
Aryaman has his sights set on being the perfect contributor for all departments. "I've had a really good season in terms of my batting. I am a batting all-rounder, but my bowling also is important, so I am trying to work on both skills. Pravin Amre and Jagdish Shetty have helped me a lot. I know I have to work very hard on my all-round cricket and the demands in this age is to play all three formats. To adapt to each format and their requirements is something I am trying to work on," he said.
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