Meghalaya off-spinner Nirdesh Baisoya claims all 10 wickets in an innings

The U16 Vijay Merchant Trophy is in full flow and on Wednesday it garnered attention from every leading publication courtesy a record-breaking ten-wicket haul by off-spinner Nirdesh Baisoya. Baisoya achieved the mind-numbing feat during a Vijay Merchant game between his side Meghalaya and Nagaland at the Assam Valley School ground in Tezpur on Wednesday, November 6th. The 15-year-old off-spinner claimed all of the 10 wickets at the cost of just 51 runs and took just 21 overs to achieve the record-breaking heist. 

Who is Nirdesh Baisoya?

Baisoya hails from a cricket-loving city of Meerut in the west of Uttar Pradesh. Born and brought up in a middle-class family, young Nirdesh did not have a penchant initially towards the game but as time wore on, it steadily grew first into a passion and then into an obsession, and little before he had known, Baisoya was head-over-heals into cricket. Two years ago he had moved to Meghalaya as a guest player.

The 15-year-old’s father works with the Noida Authority while his mother is a housewife, and his sole objective, currently, is to do well in domestic cricket. “I want to make my presence felt and do well at the domestic level. That’s my target,” Baisoya said in an interview with Sportstar.

Who has coached him?

A prominent figure. Someone, who has honed the skills of two Indian Internationals under his tutelage. Yep! Sanjay Rastogi, who in the past has coached the likes of Praveen Kumar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. “I have been training under Rastogi sir since childhood and I train regularly at the Victoria Park in Meerut,” he said.

Thanks to his graining at Victoria Park, Nirdesh has frequently got the opportunity of meeting Bhuvneshwar Kumar, someone the 15-year-old thanks for his tips and continuous support.

“They would come and train during the off-season and whenever they are here, they make sure to give us tips. I keep meeting Bhuvi bhai and he has helped me,” said Nirdesh.

Who’s his idol and what did he say about his 10-wicket haul?

Nirdesh, who regards Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon as his idol, alluded to the conditions being in the bowlers, claiming that the wicket had moisture and the team successfully exploited it.

“Earlier in the innings, the conditions were favouring the bowlers and it just turned out to be a lucky day for me. I am glad that my team supported me and we made the most of the first hour of play. Wicket mein thoda moisture tha, hum uska fayda uthaye (there was moisture and we took advantage),” added Nirdesh.

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