‘No risk, No gain’. The saying holds true for young pacer Naman Tewari, who chose to jump into the deep end and focus solely on the game in 2019. He asked his father, SN Tewari, an LIC agent in Lucknow, for three years to make his mark in cricket. If it didn’t work out, he would get back to studying but that is a scenario that he doesn’t need to worry about now. That risk bore rich fruit for the 18-year-old, who is now all set to rock for India at the upcoming ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, scheduled to be played in South Africa from January 19 to February 11.
“I was confident about this risk, as sometimes in life, you don’t get anything unless you approach it properly, and the day I made the promise to my father, I remained focused on my plans as I too had the fear of failure,” said Tewari, who finished as second highest Indian wicket taker at the just concluded Under-19 Asia Cup in Dubai, with five wickets in three matches.
A fitness freak, Tiwari has been following the strict guidelines of NCA coaches even while training at home nowadays. He started training under Ashok Kumar alias ‘Bhola Sir’ before switching to a park near his house in Gomti Nagar area, as his father found it difficult to drop him at the other venue daily. His passion kept motivating him and soon he was in the news for taking 14 wickets in the Raj Singh Dungarpur Under-14 Trophy for Uttar Pradesh.
The real disappointment for him came in the Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy as he was kept on stand-by and didn’t get a chance to play. However, that failed to dent his spirit and he kept working hard on his skills under his coach Yash Sahani at the Central Cricket Club, bagging plenty of wickets in the local league.
A good showing for the Under-19 tournament where he took 26 wickets for Uttar Pradesh post the pandemic got him a call from the Zonal Cricket Academy and the National Cricket Academy at Bengaluru. “My stints with the ZCA and at the NCA brought changes in my life and I learned the tricks of the trade with more confidence as well as how to stay fit in the business,” he said.
A class 12th student at the Modern Academy, Naman said that fitness has become the new ‘mantra of success’ in the game even in the age group cricket. “I want to become the world’s fastest bowler one day, so I am very particular about my fitness and diet as fast bowlers get injured regularly if they don’t train regularly.”
Naman’s international career in junior cricket began with a bang as he took five wickets in the triangular series against Bangladesh this November, and thereafter he went on to claim seven more wickets in other three matches, including 2/36 against England’s Under-19 side at Mulapadu.
The only son in a family of four kids, Naman wants to make his family proud with his performance in the Under-19 World Cup and his father continues to back him.
“We have indeed seen very tough days and for me allowing Naman to carry on his passion in sport was very difficult. But as God helped us and naman continued following his passion. Now, I wish him all the success and want him to grow as much as he can,” said father Tewari.