Behind U-19 star Abhigyan Kundu’s rise: unorthodox coach who made him sleep at railway station and parents who didn’t interfere

“Cricket alone isn’t enough,” Jadhav explains. “He needs to learn about life.” Inside Jadhav’s office, Abhigyan’s journey is meticulously documented. Files filled with scorecards, printed records of every fifty and hundred, and over 6,000 GB of batting footage chronicle every session, every mistake, every correction.

On Saturday, the Mumbai wicketkeeper-batsman underlined his temperament with a crucial 80 against Bangladesh in the ongoing ICC Under-19 World Cup in Zimbabwe. It was an innings built for the moment—calm, controlled, and responsible—when India desperately needed someone to hold one end.

It’s a journey of maturity that began when the coach Jadhav laid one simple condition to the parents. Coming from a family where one parent was an engineer and the other a doctor, Jadhav understood their expectations. But before accepting Abhigyan, the coach laid down a firm condition: the parents would never interfere in their son’s cricketing journey.

“I interview the parents before taking a child,” Jadhav recalls. “I take only players whose parents are working. I don’t want involvement. In Mumbai, there are too many parents interfering in their child’s game.”

With that understanding, the journey began. By the time Abhigyan turned 11, Jadhav—himself a pupil of the legendary Ramakant Achrekar—knew the boy had something special. Training followed Achrekar’s old-school methods: facing 5,000 balls a day, running two overs every alternate day, and deliberate rest sessions to balance the workload.

Jadhav still remembers the moment that convinced him. “I was playing club cricket and took him to open with me once. He wasn’t scared of bowlers much older than him. He was focused. That’s when I realised he was good material.”

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Runs soon followed in abundance. Abhigyan began excelling in local cricket, representing the Avinash Salvi Foundation in Navi Mumbai and later training at the DY Patil Sports Academy. His move to Anjuman High School in South Mumbai helped structure his school cricket, and word began to spread after former India pacer Abey Kuruvilla saw the young left-hander bat.

By the age of 13, Abhigyan’s numbers were staggering—nearly 29,000 runs, 97 centuries, and 127 half-centuries. He scored monumental hundreds: twice crossing 400, twice passing 300, and nine double centuries.

“He has a huge appetite for runs,” Jadhav says. “The best part is his game sense. Whether he scores 100, 200, or 300, he never shows off his bat. He just focuses on batting—bus apna batting dekhta hai.”

That consistency earned him a place in Mumbai’s Under-16 side, followed by zonal selections and stints at the Under-16 and Under-19 academies at the National Cricket Club.

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The distance from parental pressure has remained intact. Abhigyan’s father, Abhishek, who works at Tata Consultancy Services, didn’t even watch the World Cup match live—updates came through coaches. The family’s only constant concern has been education.

Balancing cricket and academics wasn’t easy, but Abhigyan managed 82 percent in his Class 10 examinations and is now pursuing science. Even on World Cup duty, his books travel with him—his Class 12 exams are next month.

“He’s more worried about exams than cricket right now,” Jadhav laughs. “Science is tough, but he’s smart.”

For Abhigyan Kundu, this is just the beginning. How far he climbs will depend not just on talent, but on his ability to endure, adapt, and survive at the next level. And it all started with a boy who simply refused to sleep.

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