Krish Srikkanth shakes a leg ~ Kidambi Srikanth wins Thai Open

Krishnamachari Srikkanth, popularly ‘cheeka’ was my childhood idol… the dashing opener with his keen eye and sharp reflexes redefined the way India played….displaying raw aggression, going over the infield coupled with power and precision.. a great batsman adored by one and all in his day…….he got a raw deal, especially after that Pak tour when Sachin Tendulkar came on the National scene.. his rash execution did lead to his downfall too…. Gallant player but not the greatest of footwork… !!!! Srikkanth redefined batting with powerful hitting and playing lofted shots over the infield ~ amazing technique those days when batsmen were only used to driving the ball all along the carpet.

Those days were different ~ India was in the nascent days of ODI and perhaps no other Indian played the game the way Cheeka played…. the Chennai star was the most adored and followed fanatically by many of us.  Those were the days, when in an year, you would have a dozen ODI matches or even less.   Hours before or even days before the match would start our talks and expectations on Srikkanth succeeding in a match.  He was unconventional, not so consistent ~ still ended up making …. 4091 runs in One dayers and 2062 in Test Cricket.  He made 4 centuries at which point, he was the one with highest no. of centuries in One day for India – far cry when Sachin retired with 49 one day centuries under his belt.  We used to get so emotionally upset when he failed……. Srikkanth made his Test debut against England ~ his first inning uncomfortable stay was soon ended and in the second, was run out wandering out of his crease by a throw when ball was not in play !   

Happy news is that his name sake ‘K. Srikanth’ [Kidambi Srikanth]  became the latest badminton sensation to emerge from India as he lifted his maiden men’s singles title with a stunning straight-game triumph over top-seeded local favourite Boonsak Ponsana at the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold. The Thailand Open in badminton is an open international championships held in Thailand since 1984. It was halted in 1986, 1998, 2002 and 2010. 

There are many TV shows and ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa’ is another  reality show ~ the Indian version of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing and ABC's Dancing with the Stars.  The 6th Season of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa premiered on June 1, 2013 on Colors. The series is hosted by Manish Paul and Kapil Sharma.  To us the it is a news as the dashing opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth shook a leg on the show.  Actor-comedian Suresh Menon became the first celebrity contestant to get eliminated from the sixth season  where Srikkanth debuted.  Suresh, along with his choreographer Suchitra Sen was in the bottom three contestants, with actors Meghna Malik and Ekta Kaul, and their respective choreographers. The result was announced on the basis of the audience voting and judges Madhuri Dixit, Karan Johar and Remo D'Souza's marks.

The episode, which was called 'Jhalak on wheels', saw a scintillating impromptu performance by dancing diva Madhuri on her superhit number "Choli ke peechhe"

Srikkanth’s dance is not the prime news but Srikanth’s winning men’s singles title with a stunning straight-game triumph over top-seeded local favourite Boonsak Ponsana at the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold, certainly is. The 20-year-old from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh beat world number eight Ponsana 21-16 21-12 in a 34-minute match to script the biggest win of his still nascent career. The first game went neck and neck before Srikanth broke free to notch up six consecutive points to win the game and wrest the initiative. The second game was a completely one-sided affair with Srikanth scoring at ease. The Indian sent down nine smashes against his rival’s three to stamp his authority in the match. Ponsana had a two-point lead to start with but Srikanth made amends quite quickly to reel off eight successive points and seal the game and the match in his favour.

Srikanth had previously reached the quarter-finals of the Asian Junior Championships and entered the prequarterfinals of the World Junior Championships in 2011. Indian male shuttlers have been making quite a mark internationally of late. P Kashyap had won the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold last year.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

10th June 2013.