Kolkata: Every budding sportsperson from his/her early days dreams of donning India colours. Young 24-year-old cricketer Viraj Bhatia is no exception to this rule. The left-handed batsman is currently pursuing a course in sports management in the United Kingdom. But that hasn’t stopped Viraj Bhatia from pursuing his first passion – cricket.
Viraj has been coached by former Indian, Bengal and Haryana cricketer Ashok Malhotra. The latter feels that Viraj has in him the potential to play first class cricket in India. “Viraj come to my academy as a tiny tot, since then he has moved from strength to strength. He is currently playing brilliantly in the Kent League and is the top run-getter there for the last couple of years. Viraj is talented and can score quickly. He will be an asset for any side he plays for,” opined Malhotra.
Viraj’s family is an active supporter of the youngster’s cricket dreams. In fact, his father wants to him achieve new heights in the sport. While pursuing his sports management course in Lancaster University, the Kolkata boy also led their cricket team. Under his captaincy, Lancaster University got promoted from Division 2 to Division 1. Currently Viraj represents the Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club in the Kent league. He has been scoring consistently for his club and has emerged the highest run-getter in the league for the last two seasons. The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic may have affected sports all over the world, but not Viraj, who has been training very hard to achieve his dreams.
Viraj, while he was in Kolkata has played with the likes of current first class cricketers including Abhimanyu Easwaran. He has proved himself on many occasions, the major one being a score of 97 in the under-16 final for the Dattu Phadkar Trophy which is CAB-run domestic tournament.
Dilip Vengsarkar and Farokh Engineer, both former Indian cricketers, feel that Viraj is quite a talented cricketer. Both said that Viraj has the talent to play first class cricket in India and represent a state.