Hyderabad: In the on-going IPL tourney in the UAE, Prashanth Kumar, a cricket enthusiast from Jangaon in Telangana, has been in the thick of action since he is the main manual scorer at the Dubai International Stadium. Despite being physically challenged as his right arm is slightly deformed, he has managed his show very well with his left hand and has never thought this deformity is a hurdle in life.
“Cricket is my passion. I even played cricket in school (Sri Aurobindo High School) and college (Chaitanya Junior College). I used bat and bowl left-handed. But once I completed my engineering from PVP Siddhartha Institute of Technology, Vijayawada, I got a job in Yogi Group of Constructions in Dubai. In one of the local matches in 2005, I was asked to score and my journey as a scorer started since then,” recalled the 39-year-old in a chat with Telangana Today.
Prashanth said he was fortunate to get support from his boss Shiva Pagarani, who is also convenor of Dubai Cricket Council. “Since I am a cricket-lover, I could pursue my dream,” he said.
Prashanth made his international debut as a scorer in the Pakistan Vs Australia Test match at Dubai Stadium in 2009 and was present at all domestic, international and prominent matches in the UAE.
Now an Assistant Division Manager for the scaffolding division of Yogi Group of Companies, he says scoring in cricket matches has taught him to be patient. “It needs tons of patience and accuracy. We have to be alert and concentrate like a batsman does for every delivery. With new rules coming in like the third umpire no-ball or waist-high no-ball, the scorer has to be very alert,” he says.
Prashanth, who had previous experience of scoring in IPL matches in 2014 when the tournament was held in Dubai, said this edition was an entirely different one. “Many were apprehensive of the IPL because of the fears of Covid-19. Having come to know that IPL will be held here, I began to take all precautions and followed all the procedures. It is a different kind of experience with matches being played in an empty stadium.”
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