"I wanted to be a master of my own destiny" Straight Drive With Sudarshan COO Gen-Next

As you walk into our institute you will invariably bump into a bespectacled, bearded young man. You can almost mistake him to be the boy next door. It's only when you get introduced to him do you realise he is the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Gen-next Cricket Institute. It is indeed a great honour to be presenting to you, Ladies and Gentleman, Straight Drive with Sudarshan.
The game of cricket and it's addiction can lead people in many ways. It can shape destinies and chalk out glorious, chequered maps for the future. However, it's only meant for the brave-hearted and those who are willing to throw caution to the winds. Read on to find our COO talking us through his one year journey at Gen-Next.

TallBoyKarthik: Tell us something about yourself Sudarshan

Sudarshan: I am an Engineer by qualification. Graduated in 2012. Worked in IT for 3 years. Been with Gen-Next since May 2016.

TallboyKarthik: Engineering and Cricket! What's the connection?

Sudarshan: Well, cricket has always been my passion. I've loved watching the game since I was a kid. I still vividly remember the 1999 World Cup Semi Final between SA and Aus (which according to me is the greatest ODI of all time) that ended in a tie. Allan Donald getting run out, with Zulu stranded at the other end. The pure emotions at the end of the match: elation & jubilation for Australia; despair for South Africa, was mind-blowing! I could feel it myself. I was 8 then. I think my fascination for cricket became a passion exactly then.

TallBoyKarthik: How did you land up at Gen-next?

Sudarshan: Ok, here comes the story. It was Feb 2016. I had been to Germany to preside over a cricket tournament for which I was invited as a guest. That was exactly the time when I got in touch with Ashwin as well, impromptu. I explained to him about the tournament. He was excited about it and asked if I could do a similar tournament in Chennai. Concurrently, I was orchestrating an IPL Fantasy Auctions Game for my closely knit cricket group called 'Cricketism', in which Ash participated. He had a similar idea as well. You see where I'm getting? I think our wavelengths match and we struck an instant chord. So, when he offered me the Gen-next job, I didn't think twice. I lapped it up with both my hands.

Tallboykarthik: How easy or tough was it for you to decide to take the plunge?

Sudarshan: Lemme tell you, it was not easy. Here I was dropping the comforts of a nice job in an air-conditioned environment to a job that took me to a cricket ground & its functioning. Obviously, it meant getting up early in the morning, slogging it out in the ground, hot sun, but I was willing to give it a shot. There were other factors that played in my mind, like my own humble middle class family bearings & whether this was sustainable long-term. However, I hated the comfort of my sofa and thought it was high time I got the hell out of it. I wanted to go all-in & be the master of my own destiny. I wanted to succeed or fail on my own terms. It's been a year & it has been an extremely fruitful experience so far. I thank my parents for supporting my decision and backing me, when no one did. I am thankful to Ash for giving me this opportunity.

Tallboykarthik: It must have been a startup kind of scenario when you joined Gen-Next. Can you please take us through this one year journey of yours with Gen-Next?

Sudarshan: Would you believe it? I had never set foot  on to a Cricket Academy ever in my life before I joined Gen-Next. The first six months were extremely challenging. I tuned myself to the requirements of the job. It has been an on the job learning for me. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my business mentor & my close friend, Srinath: Wharton graduate and a 2-time entrepreneur. An absolute champ and a top guy, he has been my go-to man in this journey. I'll always be grateful to him. From December, things started to look up. In Dec 2016, I engineered a #GenNextGlobalTour to Dubai for a 3-day cricket coaching clinic with Ashwin at the helm to resounding success. From Jan, I have been planning and scheming the summer event, which you know now as the highly successful #SummerSlam. I wanted the Summer Slam to be totally different right from the concept to the branding. I did not want it to be a run of the mill stuff. Today, when I look back upon what I set out to do and what I actually achieved, I am quite happy with the progress. Now, I'm organising the 16 team flagship U-14 tournament in the city, #RoyalRumble. It has been a hectic summer, but an enjoyable one at that.

Tallboykarthik: Obviously, Ashwin being the mentor of Gen-Next is an influencing factor. Can you talk to us about Ashwin as a person & as a mentor? Does he give you a free hand in the decision making process as far as Gen-Next is concerned?

Sudarshan: As far as being the #GenNextMentor, Ash is 200% hands on. He is totally committed. Whenever he is not representing the country, you can either find him with his family at home or with his extended family at Gen-Next. He loves mentoring the kids, knows everyone by name & keeps track of their performances. He is a true inspiration. As far as my work is concerned, he hasn't asked me to stick to the basics. Instead, he has given me the full freedom to go out there and express myself. He has encouraged me to walk & he has done so without holding my hand. It has been the biggest take-away/positive for me: the self learning process. It has given me the confidence to tackle any challenge that's in front of me. I love Ash for that.

TallboyKarthik: There are cricket academies mushrooming all over the city.
1) How does a parent select the right academy for their children 2) How is Gen-Next different from the rest?

Sudarshan: 1) Most of the parents today are tech savy and get to find the solutions that they need online. They go by word of mouth, they go by reviews online.
2) Gen-Next is different because of our operational efficiency. We have processes in place much like a corporate environment. For example, we have a review meeting every month with the coaches, where we review the past month's performances, identify the areas of improvement. We constantly strive for excellence in whatever we do and try to take the bar up a notch higher each time. We are never satisfied with what we do. We are extremely finicky when it comes time and discipline. As far as coaching is concerned, we have set programmes in place, collectively designed by our mentor, Ashwin & head coach, Srinivasan.  We are perhaps one of the few institutes that is extremely upbeat about social media. We have a huge following on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & then we have our own blogs. I don't think any of the cricket academies have a social media presence as we do.

TallboyKarthik: When did Gen-Next start getting active on Social Media?

Sudarshan: After I joined, of course. Back when I joined, we didn't have an Instagram account or a twitter account. The Facebook page was inactive with 4000 likes. Today, Gen-Next has 20000 likes on Facebook, 5000 followers on Instagram and around 4000 followers on Twitter. Our blogs are growing rapidly as well. A year ago, not many people knew that Ashwin was our mentor. Over the last year, thanks to social media, I have made known globally Ash's involvement with Gen-Next and you see the desired results.

Tallboykarthik: What about expansion plans for Gen-next. Obviously home turf is Chennai but any plans for taking Gen-next to other places?

Sudarshan: In the last 6 months, we have taken rapid strides as far as Chennai is concerned. We do have some plans for expansion. Wait and watch.

Tallboykarthik: Any message for young cricketers and parents?

Sudarshan: We want the children to come, discover the joy of cricket. Our intention is to make the child to fall in love with the game. To quote an instance, we have a kid called Vikram in our High Performance program. His father has clearly told him to go and enjoy the game. All he wants for Vikram is to learn the sport, become a better human being: anything else is a by-product. These are the kind of parents who really excite us and enable us to give off our best. It was the same philosophy that our founder, Mr Ravichandran, had in his mind when he was parenting Ashwin. To make him play for the country was perhaps the last thing in his mind. To make Ashwin develop a joy for cricket was top most priority. Results of such an approach are there for everyone to see and learn from.

TallboyKarthik: Any memorable experiences that you would like to recall that involved you and Ashwin?

Sudarshan: I can't pinpoint an instance, cos I have had many: conversations about twitter, keeping nicknames, tracking scores of our U-14 boys, playing street cricket, etc. My own reading of Ashwin is that he is a very simple, down to earth person. He loves his movies, TV movies, still hangs out with the same set of friends, and is quite active on social media, has an outstanding sense of humour (sarcasm) and has the ability to pick up a conversation with anyone .

Tallboykarthik: This blog cannot really end without a word being spoken about the founder of the institute, Mr Ravichandran.

Sudarshan: We, at Gen-Next, know him as Ravi uncle. He is a cricket fanatic and has gone through the entire cycle of parenting Ashwin. He has seen the ups and downs of life. Back when Ashwin was growing up, he would take Ashwin to different coaching academies and matches all by himself. Having seen what a player goes through and the struggles he has had to face, uncle wanted to set up an academy where a player could be exposed to the best of coaching and infrastructure. It is only because of his foresight and thinking that Gen-Next has come into being today. As a person, uncle is very simple & comes daily morning to the ground, most of the times in the same old two wheeler on which he would take Ashwin for matches 15 years back. He is an inspiration and I totally love him.

Quite a long conversation but at the end of it you are left with quite a few pearls of learning:

• If you are indeed passionate about something, follow it, chase it as if your life depended on it and you will enjoy and do what you love.
• Sometimes in life, moving out of your comfort zone and doing something offbeat, despite the baggage of difficulties and challenges that come with it, can take you to success.
• Being simple and humble is indeed a true sign of success.

Hope you enjoyed reading our blog. Keep sending us your valuable feedback, for that is what keeps us coming back to you with more.

Super Straight Drive with Ravichandran Ashwin 2.0

There is nothing more pleasing to the eye than watching a sprinter running on a track. the smooth and easy steps, the slow and gradual start and finally that burst of speed. I have been a silent spectator as Ashwin has been gradually upping the ante on the fitness front, all in earnest preparedness for the forthcoming Champions Trophy to be conducted in England. Even as I watched him take those sprints it was all awe inspiring for me. We as fans see him play and take those wickets but hardly know the kind of hard work and effort that goes behind all of it. It also gave me an opportunity to be up front and close with Ravichandran Ashwin.

In last Friday's column of Straight Drive with Ashwin we spoke about his initial childhood days and how he developed a love for the game of Cricket. A time does come when children lose that flab, that chubbiness and the voice gets a makeover. Priorities, likes and dislikes change. A love-able maturity creeps in and in most of the cases new friends become a part of life. In this edition of Straight Drive

we shall talk about Ashwin's tryst with teenage and his circle of close friends.

Hunger for Cricket Just Grew on Ashwin:

As the years rolled by, Ashwin started to like the game even more than anything else. In one of the U17 tournaments in Vizag, Ashwin scored a century and the day came to a close. Well this story has two endings and we would like you to take up either one version of the story. Two people have narrated their versions to me, one is a version that Ashwin tells me and the other is a version that Arvind aka takali tells me. Ra Arvind also happens to be Ashwins childhood friend and a coach at Gen-next Cricket Institute.

Ashwins Version: Ashwin says that he completed a century, came back to the room, was very tired, however had a shower,changed his clothes and went to sleep. Anirudh Srikkanth happened to be his room mate. Ashwin says that he went on to compile a double century in this match.

Takkalis Version: Ashwin completed a century, came back to room, was very tired, hit the bed in the same pair of clothes, next day travelled to ground in the same whites and went on to complete a well compiled double century.

 Leave it to the audience at this point of time to pick up their own version and why they think so. One must however appreciate the passion for the game which is so very inspiring for kids of that age into a sport like Cricket.

The Four Musketeers

They were a group of four friends, travelling for tournaments together, involving themselves in pranks and most of all having a very normal childhood. Ashwin,Santosh,Arvind,and Kedar made up for a very formidable and strong circle of friends. Ashwin says that for most of the tournaments this group travelled together, either at the school or the college level. Once the team travelled for a tournament in Dharamshala, while the coach was quite excited with the serene atmosphere, he was quite sure that they would win the tournament. However the team ended losing the matches and travelled by road to different venues across the country. While the kids won, they were quite pampered for choice and when they lost they were made to sweat and toil. Valid lessons learnt at a very tender age, the carrot and stick policy worked well for the team, they won several tournaments together, losing only a few along the way.

Ashwin says that while all the kids were active in their naughty, active, fun and frolic ways, there was one in the group who was the most goody, goody and sober. that was Kedar. Kedar used to be an adventurous type. When they would check into a town or city for a tournament it would be Kedar to find out all about the place. He was also very fond of shopping so he would know what would be available in which place including some great food. Homework done, Kedar would inform the other four and they would be out exploring the city. Kedar was the Mr Nice of the group, never indulging in any kind of mischief. Thus he was nicknamed as the Jesus Christ of the group. Ashwin recalls them waiting on Kedar , one of the nights in the hotel room with lit candles on either side, just to welcome their Godly

friend.

In one of the state games, they had tied the match, Kedar was overcome with joy and started sprinting to the pavilion in joy to meet the coach. In his exuberance he had apparently forgotten that he had worn spikes. He ran on the concrete, full speed ahead with spikes on to the concrete, only to come crashing down, in the midst of the arranged chairs kept neatly under a Shamiana. All the friends had a hearty laugh together.

Ashwin and his University Days

Ashwin, Sanch, Venkat and Thakkali would travel together in their times during graduation. Ashwin says of the lot, Venkat was the smartest clocking over 85% each time in examinations. Sanch was good at numbers and Thaks was the weakest link amongst the four. While all of them would sincerely attempt to study for the exams burning the midnight oil in most cases, it was sanch who would want to sleep that wee bit extra, even on exam mornings. On a aside Ashwin adds that Sanch would be the one to set up the alarm clock, each time woken up, he would be the one to want to have that luxury of extra five minutes of sleep.  it happened that one of those days it happened to Mathematics time. They all prepared for the exam. Ashwin owned a Santro those days, while he picked up his friends for the examination.

All of them finished the exams much ahead of the stipulated time except for Arvind. They were quite taken aback that Arvind was taking so much time. There was more in store. While discussing the tough question paper it was Arvind who came up with all the correct answers. The fun does not stop here. On the day of the results, Sanch called up Ashwin "Machi marks aa paatiya da"(Did you see the Marks?). Ashwin replied saying that he had cleared the paper. Sanch stressed again"Adhu illai da Thakaali Maths marks paatiya da?" (Did you see Thakaalis Maths marks?) The Three had crossed the requisite line while Arvind was left behind. It was even quite puzzling for tallboyk, who then ventured to interrogate further. "Ashwin how did this happen?Arvind got all the answers right, thats what you just said." Ashwin with that tangy mischevous, quirky look on his face said " Oh Thaks finished the exam much earlier, went back to his place of dwelling, had a mid afternoon siesta, consulted Mr. Mcgraw Hill for all the right answers and had come collars up to discuss the answers with his friends.

Ashwin feels that Arvind,Sanch,and Kedar were as equally talented as him in modern cricket, despite this it was only he who donned the India colors. He laments this fact as he says with the other musketeers around the India dressing room would have gotten even more lively.

For me it was a pleasure bring to you all this column of Straight Drive. It was fun for Ashwin recalling his own childhood days, for a boy who dreamt making it big in Indian Cricket Team, who morphed himself into a young man, who the rest of the world knows as Ravichandran Ashwin. There will be more such columns in the near future. Keep reading and leaving your valuable feedback as that would encourage us to keep writing to you.