Sanath Jayasuriya’s talk inspired Vinoop in many ways

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Vinoop S. Manoharan, who won the best cricketer award of Kerala Cricket Association for the 2010-11 season, has been proving his all-round skills for quite a while.

Last season, he had amassed 600 runs (3 centuries and 3 half centuries) and scalped 35 wickets playing for under-19 and under-25 Kerala state teams. He had also toured Sri Lanka as part of the Under-19 Kerala team.

Vinoop is hoping to repeat his performance this season also. He was the key in helping the Kerala Under-22 team win the last game against Sri Lanka in the island nation recently. The middle order batsman scored a fine 82.

“We had a great experience in Sri Lanka. That was a nice grooming tour for us,” the 19-year-old all-rounder says.

Vinoop started his career 10 years ago when he was studying at Christ Nagar school in Thiruvananthapuram. Soon his father got transfer to Bengaluru and he had to move to Karnataka for further training. “That was a great opportunity for me. I was able to meet several players and play with them. I was a member of Karnataka U-13 and U-15 teams,” he said.

After that he came back to Kerala and was selected to the Under-19 team. The right hand batsman and right hand off spinner had a great time with the Kerala Under-19 team, which bagged him the KCA award. After the season, he was selected to the Under-22 team to tour Sri Lanka and play in the C.K. Naidu Trophy. After their campaign at South Africa, the U-22 team is practising at Perinthalmanna in Malappuram.

“Though the camp was a short one, we are getting good exposure. The KCA officials are supportive and this will help us play as a team,” he said. A student of Sacred Heart Thevara College in Kochi, he started liking the game after watching his brother playing.

“My brother (Vishnu) was an Under-17 player for the Karnataka team. He had to retire from the game owing to an injury. However, all of my family members are giving me fantastic support,” he says.

Vinoop says one of the memorable events in Sri Lanka was his interaction with Sri Lankan blitzkrieg Sanath Jayasuriya.

“It was a great experience. Though I love Muttiah Muralitharan more, the interaction with him was informative. KCA is doing a good job by sending youngsters for foreign tours and increasing the caliber of the cricketers in the State,” he pointed out.