Rohan Kunnummal’s India A call-up: Cricket-crazy dad’s 15-year dream and dramatic Kerala comeback

It has been a surreal seven days for Rohan Kunnummal and his father Susil. The path to a shared dream and an unwavering dedication to cricket for 15 years attained simple readability when Rohan earned his maiden India A call-up for its two four-day matches in Bangladesh.

In beneath a 12 months, Rohan has affirmed his spot as Kerala’s opener throughout codecs with a stupendous run in his second coming to the State workforce. A record-breaking three successive tons of in the Ranji Trophy 2021-22 season was adopted by a century on his Duleep Trophy debut for South Zone in September – the primary Kerala batter to realize each landmarks.

Following his outstanding run in red-ball cricket, Rohan’s focus nimbly shifted to enhancing his limited-overs recreation. His stroke-making witnessed a fluent changeover within the group stage of the continuing Vijay Hazare Trophy when he slammed his first and second List A centuries in Bengaluru. While Thursday’s formal announcement from the BCCI confirmed his first international task, it has been per week since Rohan learnt about his call-up.

“I came to know about it last week. A BCCI official called to inform me about the selection and asked about my jersey number and all. It took a while to digest everything (laughs),” Rohan advised Sportstar on Thursday.

Having slowly shaken off the overwhelming second, Rohan is now trying ahead to sharing a dressing room with Cheteshwar Pujara sir.

“I am not sure if I would be able to sit next to him (laughs). We will always have that respect, right? You have seen them in matches on television for years now and it will be a fortunate moment to be able to spend time with Pujara sir. You always have these sorts of dreams but I never expected to get here this soon,” mentioned Rohan, who has amassed 769 runs at a shocking common of 96.12 in his six-match First Class profession.

The 24-year-old from Koyilandi in Kozhikode district mentioned he owes his journey to a cricket-crazy dad who thrust him into the sport on the age of 9.

READ | IPL 2023 public sale: Kunnummal attends franchise trials

Susil, an ardent follower of the sport, was a passionate cricketer himself in faculty. Skilfully challenged, by his personal admission, Susil couldn’t improve his recreation past the taking part in XI of the Kerala Agricultural University workforce.

“I still see it as my biggest achievement (laughs). Although I couldn’t make it big, I stayed in touch with the game even after college,” Susil remarked.

Susil remained a daily within the division league cricket of Kozhikode for 30 years till the current COVID-19 lockdowns. The membership cricket scene within the north Malabar area would later turn out to be Rohan’s formative area. While a supportive household enabled Susil and Rohan to give attention to cricket, the choice to pursue a profession within the sport got here quickly after a nine-year-old Rohan went unnoticed in a district choice camp.

“There was a camp that followed that selection where former Kerala captain Sunil Oasis was in attendance. I approached him for a serious discussion about Rohan and after seeing him play, Sunil told me to back the kid for a career. It gave us a lot of confidence and after discussions with my wife and my brother, we took the plunge,” mentioned Susil.

“Rohan began by playing for the Railview club after being trained by Santosh Kumar at the Sussex Academy in Kozhikode. We used to play together for the club (laughs) until recently,” Susil recollected.

Rohan climbed the rungs of the State age-group cricket quickly, a lot in order that the thin 15-year-old was fast-tracked by the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) straight into the Under-25 class.

“Around the same time, we were asked to play league cricket in Kochi for the Mattancherry Youngsters Cricket Association club. The quality of cricket and the bowlers he faced was better there,” Susil mentioned.

In 2017, Rohan made his List A debut for Kerala however fell out of favour after two matches. The then 18-year-old additionally had a quick presence within the India U-19 workforce earlier than the perils of breaking into the subsequent degree halted him for a few seasons. “He had always remained confident about his game and I feel that’s where he had an edge over his peers,” Susil mentioned.

Levelling up in lockdown

When the complete home cricket construction got here to a standstill in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21, Rohan charted the highway to his dramatic turnaround whereas being confined to his residence.

“There was an impression among cricketers in the Kerala circle that he had a weak physique. He was not well-built and we made up during the lockdown with the help of Vysakh Krishna (Kerala Strength and Conditioning Coach). KCA directly put him in charge of improving Rohan’s fitness. That period turned out to be a blessing and that has helped his game immensely,” Susil mentioned.

“There were opinions that he could not score past 60-70 runs. His hands used to become weak and that affected his timing. After his transformation, those knocks began to cross the 100-run mark. We only realised the importance of such fitness levels after seeing the results (laughs),” mentioned Susil, who dabbles between supporting Rohan’s recreation and his job in a community advertising agency.

Rohan acknowledged the transformation and believes his recreation is now fitted to all codecs, having additionally put in hours to enhance his power-hitting recreation earlier than the season.

“My confidence level has improved. Your mindset varies a lot when you’re scoring runs, so that has picked up automatically. Mentally adapting to situations and making minute changes according to the format is all that I am looking for now,” Rohan mentioned as he ready to hitch the India A squad in Kolkata earlier than its flight to Bangladesh.

While Rohan, a passive Brazil soccer fan, leaves his vigorous Kerala teammates who’re torn between Argentina, Portugal and Germany of their assist for the FIFA World Cup, Kerala coach Tinu Yohannan has a sound message for him.

“He has a long way ahead and these opportunities are stepping stones for him to get a spot in the national side. He is young and an opportunity like this won’t come back again. He has the maturity to use it well,” the previous India bowler remarked.

Rohan has made life straightforward for the Kerala workforce which has ended its anticipate an opener that may singlehandedly take the sport away from the opposition. In his transient spell, Rohan has displayed indicators of an aggressive batter who is especially abrasive towards spin.

“It’s a positive that the selectors took notice of his talent. Rohan has always been a match-winner with his aggressive batting. When he scores, there are high chances that the team wins because that’s the standard of his performance. His innings can make a big difference and that’s been the case since his junior days. His hand-eye coordination is brilliant, something that I’ve only seen in a very few batters,” noticed Yohannan.

Rohan is hoping to maintain an open thoughts and faucet into all of the assets that he’ll come throughout on the tour.

“This will be my first tour abroad. My goal remains simple. I will try to maximise my opportunities and help the team to win the series. And interacting with seniors like Pujara sir and Umesh Yadav will be great for my game,” Rohan remarked.

All mentioned and completed, Susil is ready for his subsequent session with Rohan again residence the place they bask in prolonged throwdown classes.

“We give a lot of emphasis to the practice that we have done at home over the years. I bowl around 300 balls to him every day and that will remain the case whenever Rohan is home, no excuses,” Susil mentioned as a door to their collective dream of representing India in whites appears extra actual than ever.