She first picked up a bat when she was just two and a half years old. Since the age of three, her father has been training her every single evening, most recently ensuring her front foot comes out to the pitch of the ball. At four, Rishika Sarkar already plays the cover drive better than most people four or five times her age.
With an insatiable love for cricket and an infectious smile, Rishika’s talent first went viral on social media, through which it grabbed the attention of Yuvraj Singh. Impressed by Rishika’s stroke play and footwork, Yuvraj decided to support her dreams. The Yuvraj Singh Centre for Excellence (YSCE), which has come up at the Merlin Rise Sports Republic in Rajarhat, has extended a generous hand of guidance to Rishika, providing her the opportunity to train at the facility. Rishika will also be receiving further support from the Merlin Group, which has agreed to take up Rishika’s educational responsibilities for life. Next year, Merlin will be putting Rishika into a school so that she can not only focus on her cricket but also study without her parents having to worry about her education fees.
‘I love playing the cover drive and I want to play it like Virat Kohli’
My Kolkata watched Rishika in action at Merlin Rise and found out just how good she already is. At four, it is naive to suggest that she can be the next big thing in Indian cricket, or even to call her a generational talent. But what is beyond doubt is her enthusiasm for the sport. After watching her stroke and smother the ball in the nets, it’s clear that her footwork is impeccable for her age. Light on her feet, her technique follows the cricketing playbook for the most part, with a still head and high elbow complementing her bent left knee whenever she plays on the front foot.
Rishika with her Radhika Sarkar, her mother
Hailing from Sulanggari in Rajarhat, Rishika shot to internet fame after RJ Praveen (of Red FM) spotted her taking throwdowns from her dad. “I love playing the cover drive and I want to play it like Virat Kohli,” beams Rishika when talking to My Kolkata. On being asked how she learnt to play it, she says with a proud smile: “My father [Rajib Sarkar] taught me.”
“She loves taking throwdowns from her dad. I give tuitions to local kids in the evening and tell her to sit and study with them, but she always wants to play,” says Radhika Sarkar, Rishika’s mother. “When we saw Yuvraj Singh’s video about Rishika, we had no words. Everyone at Merlin Rise has been really helpful. The coaches at the YSCE are looking after her very well and we hope that continues,” adds Radhika.
‘At YSCE, we want to create a culture of high-intensity training so that these young boys and girls can represent Bengal someday’
Satyendra Singh overseeing training at YSCE
“Rarely do you see someone so young who can play on the front foot with such ease. She’s very talented, and a lot depends on how much work she’s willing to put in as she grows up. Increasingly, as the media attention builds around her, she also has to learn how to shut out all the noise and focus on improving her game,” observes Satyendra Singh, the head coach at the YSCE, where Rishika trains three times a week and is expected to train five times a week from next year. “At the YSCE, we want to create a culture of high-intensity training so that these young boys and girls can represent Bengal someday. The infrastructure here is amazing. We have indoor nets so that practice doesn’t stop even when it rains,” says Singh.
Talking about Rishika and how the Merlin Group wants to help young talent find more exposure, Satyen Sanghvi, the director of projects at the Merlin Group, says: “We see great potential in Rishika, which is why we want to sponsor her and support her towards reaching higher levels. At Merlin, we understand how difficult the journey is for sportspersons in our country. Like with Rishika, we hope to be a pillar of support for various other young talents from Bengal, who can be nurtured for success and can make our state and country proud.”
