Nearly seven-foot tall pacer from Hyderabad Nishanth Saranu makes his Ranji Trophy debut, took up cricket to lose weight

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New Delhi, October 12, 2024: It isn’t surprising that the six-foot and nine-inch tall fast bowler Nishanth Saranu has made heads turn before his Ranji debut for Hyderabad against Gujarat on Friday.

Last year, the 19-year-old from Hyderabad was a net bowler for the Pakistan team at the World Cup and caught the attention of the team’s bowling coach Morne Morkel, who is now with India. Earlier this year, when India were in Hyderabad for the Test match, Nishanth caught the eye of coach Rahul Dravid . In the last IPL, he rubbed shoulders with Jasprit Bumrah & Co at Mumbai Indians as a net bowler.

For Nishanth life has been in ‘fast-forward’ mode. Till three years ago he didn’t even play proper cricket. And the only reason he picked up cricket in early 2021 was to shed kilos. “I was too chubby…and weighed 102kgs,” Nishanth tells The Indian Express.

“I tried badminton and didn’t succeed. I even tried tennis, but it didn’t work out. So I took up cricket for recreation and after that everything happened so fast that even I wonder ‘what really happened?’ because I always thought I wasn’t cut out for sports,” Nishanth, who is a product of Coaching Beyond Academy in Hyderabad, run by former India fielding coach R Sridhar, said.

Other than his height, what stood out was his bowling action in his initial days— similar to Jasprit Bumrah’s.

“I used to mimic Bumrah’s action. When you are not a professional, you try to mimic your favourite bowler. Of course it wasn’t easy for me because of my frame. But I thought, why change it? It is only after I joined an academy I realised I’ve to have my own bowling action,” Nishanth said.

For the next 12 months Nishanth would work on finding an action that suited his lanky frame with veteran bowling coach TA Sekhar also helping him with fine tuning. He would go about working on his run-up and the load-up so that his movements are closer to the body. With the help of biomechanics, they would fine tune his action to prevent injury. Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun too would keep a close eye on Nishanth’s progress.

In the lead up to the 2024 Under-19 World Cup in South Africa, Nishanth featured in the Challengers Series and Quadrangular Series. Though he played only four matches, he was amongst wickets. But being a last-minute entrant, he failed to make the cut for the World Cup-bound squad. “He should have gone to South Africa, because with his height and bounce, he would have been a real asset,” Sridhar believes.

“When he came on the scene, he was raw. But you could see with his height, if he acquired the right skill set, he would go places. Height was his X-factor. So we just worked on his action, rhythm and fitness because when you are as tall as him, coordination could be a slight issue. And we worked on body coordination and got him ready. He has come along well in fielding as well. His action and delivery stride had to be worked on and the good thing is Arun is also keeping an eye on him. Whenever he is here, he works on his bowling. Now he has made it to the Ranji Trophy squad. If he plays a couple of seasons, and goes through the grind he will be ready for the next level,” Sridhar added.

Encouragement from Haris Rauf

What some of the top Pakistan players told him when he was a net bowler boosted Nishanth’s confidence.

“I didn’t have much pace, but Haris Rauf told me once you cross 18, you will add more muscle and pace will come automatically. And that’s what has happened. Morkel Sir also said the same thing and even took my phone number,” Nishanth said.

According to the reports published in indianexpress.com Playing in the Vijay Merchant and the Cooch Behar Trophy meant, Nishanth was spotted by Mumbai Indians scouts with veteran bowling coach TA Sekhar recommending him as one of the net bowlers for the last IPL. “It was a big learning curve. I mostly spent talking to Gerald Coetzee… but bowling to all the top players was indeed special. Because of my height, they were not hitting me straight.

They were playing me out, which was nice to see. And I used my slower balls, which were hard to pick. There is still a long way to go,” Nishanth said.

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