14-06-2025
TNPL 2025: A Essakimuthu, iDreamer and cricketer
CHENNAI: iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans pacer A Esakkimuthu remembers the first time he held a cricket ball in his hand. It was the U16 selection trials in Tirunelveli and Esakkimuthu, a class tenth student from Kalakudi, a small village tucked away from the hassles of Tirunelveli city, who had watched T Natarajan get picked in the IPL auction the year before, wondering if he could dream of something similar. 'Will it happen to me one day?' he dreamt.
He had asked his father, who runs a school van service from the neighbourhood villages to Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai, for a white t-shirt and pants. He borrowed 'bata shoes' from a school-going kid in Kalakudi before going to the trials. He had only played with a 'stumper' ball and had never touched a cricket ball before. In the trials, he somehow hit a few big shots before beating the bat with his pace and got selected.
However, considering the financial situation at home and the fact that Esakki was studying well, he could not continue. 'My dad had met with an accident. The situation was not good. Dad and two brothers were all working. In all this, I could not even think of cricket. You need money to play and train. So I understood the situation and didn't go,' he recalls.
It lit up a fury of fire within. 'Veri (fire of passion)' is the word he keeps repeating. So much so that when he got a chance to play for Urumu Dhanalakshmi Arts College, Tiruchy, the Bachelor of Social Work student gave his everything. Esakkimuthu impressed an opposition batter, Yuvaraj from Bishop Heber College, who would take him under his wings. Esakkimuthu shifted colleges for his PG (Library Science) and continued to train with Yuvaraj. He was introduced to a senior pacer Senthil Nathan, Veeraraghavan Ramachandran of Alchemy Academy and trainer Michael Anton.
