Meet India’s throwdown specialist, who left home with Rs 21, now a backbone of Indian cricket, shaped careers of Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, etc

New Delhi: While celebrating the cricketers, we often overlook the efforts put in by the support staff. One such individual is Raghavendra Dwivedi – Team India’s throwdown specialist and popularly known as ‘Raghu Bhaiya’. On Tuesday, the Indian team gave a fitting recognition to their favourite Raghu Bhaiya by handing him the series-winning trophy following the hosts’ seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the second Test in Kanpur. India had won the first Test too by 280 runs in Chennai.

Having joined the Indian team back in 2011, Raghavendra had a pivotal role to play in shaping up the careers of the likes of Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, KL Rahul, and many others stars of Indian cricket by helping the batters fine-tune their skills against high-speed bowling.

Such has been his contribution to Indian cricket that even the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Ravi Shastri praised the Karnataka-born lad. Raghavendra’s passion for cricket started at a very young age and left his home in Kumta with just Rs 21 in his pocket which was against his father’s wish.

With a dream of becoming a cricketer, Raghavendra’s journey fell short when he fractured his hand. Undeterred, Raghavendra decided not to give up his cricketing dream. He began assisting cricketers in Hubli by throwing balls at them during the practice sessions. Impressed by his determination, Raghavendra was directed to Bangalore by a friend of his, and eventually led to a job at the Karnataka Institute of Cricket.

There, Raghavendra worked tirelessly by throwing balls to Karnataka cricketers. Former Karnataka wicketkeeper and current U-19 selection committee chief Tilak Naidu introduced Raghavendra to Javagal Srinath, a former India pacer.

Impressed by his work ethics, Raghavendra was invited to join the Karnataka Ranji team which turned out to be the turning point in his life. However, Raghavendra’s struggles didn’t go away as he worked tirelessly at the National Cricket Academy with minimal pay for several years.

His hard work final bore fruit when Raghavendra completed BCCI’s Level-1 coaching course. By then, Raghavendra had become a favourite among the Indian cricketers who came to NCA before being handpicked by legendary Sachin Tendulkar, leading his appointment into the Indian national team as a training assistant.