Boy who left home with Rs 21, lives in graveyard today became T20 World Cup winners

India won their 2nd T20 World Cup title on Saturday as they clinched a thrilling win over South Africa. The players were able to dig deep and get the victory from the jaws of defeat in Barbados.  Boy who left home with Rs 21, lives in graveyard today became T20 World Cup winners.

Most time, the credit for Team India’s success goes to the head coach, but there are a few other characters on the so-called sidelines who are just as crucial to the team. One of them is Raghavendraa, an throwdown specialist important member of the Indian cricket team’s support staff.

His specialty is throwing the ball really fast. Raghavendra is a shy person by nature, but ask him to throw a cricket ball, and he’ll show you his worth. Raghu, who joined the Indian team as a throwdown specialist in 2011, must have bowled at least 10 lakh balls during the Indian team’s practice in the last decade. A badly injured arm forced Raghavendra to quit playing cricket just as he was going through the ranks in Karnataka cricket.

Hailing from a small village Kumta in Uttara karnnada district Karnataka, he quit his studies and home with just Rs 21 in hand to follow his cricketing ambitions. After he left home he went Hubli, He sleeps at the Hubli bus stand for a week. When the police drove him from there, he joined a nearby temple. Stay in the temple for 10 days.

When faced with the situation of having to walk out from there, Raghavendra, seeing no other option, joins a nearby graveyard. A dilapidated building in a graveyard becomes a house. He covers the mat brought from the cricket ground. Raghavendra sleeps in the graveyard like this for four and a half years.

But in Hubli things didn’t work in his favour, so he decided to go to Bengaluru’s National Cricket Academy where he would give throwdowns to the Indian players who were there for training and rehab. And that was the turning point in his career where he developed his unique skill by spending hours at the nets.

His dream to join the Indian team was fulfilled when he was inducted into the team as a ‘throwdown expert’ at the recommendation of cricket legends Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, who had faced his quick throwdowns at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), in Bangalore.

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Raghavendraa joined the team first during India’s 2011-12 tour of Australia before being dumped. He staged a `comeback’ to the Indian team’s support staff for the 2014 tour to England and looks set on being an integral part of the coaching machinery.

It is not enough courage to face those balls that come in with the force of Raghavendra’s shoulder. Lightning fastballs that hit 150 kph. There is no other throwdown specialist in the world who bowls as fast as Raghu when he has the device called side arm. Virat Kohli himself once said, “For us who are used to Raghu throwing balls at 150 kph in the nets, the top pacers in the match look like medium pacers.”

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Raghavendraa also turned down many offers given by international teams due to his specialized skill. He is genuinely and totally devoted to Team India.