Udupi: Shirva Boy Denver Mendoca Selected Makes it to National-level Cricket Tourney
from Ancy Paladka
for Daijiworld Media Network
Mumbai, Nov 29: India is a vast country with talented human resources. But finding the talent and training is the major process in nurturing the talent. This has been a major hurdle that has made our country to remain at the back rows. Our system lacks this process where in up and coming talents are recognized and then groomed to bloom.
Though cricket is a major game of India, at times right players were never inducted in our national team. Most of the talent is hidden and never identified.
Denver Blenson Mendonca, student of Don Bosco High School, Shirva studying in 8th standard is one such example.
He has been selected to represent Karnataka in the National-Level Cricket Championship (under 14 category) which was held recently.
Denver never knew that he can play a good game until his sports teacher offered him to play at the taluk-level, in under-14 category, two months ago. Till then he never played cricket using a hard ball. He had only played evening cricket using tennis ball along with his fellow village boys just for fun.
It may be just like opening his fortune. As it was necessary to send a school team to play at the national-level, his sports teacher observed all children playing using a tennis ball. He found Denver quite talented. He selected him for the school team in the month of September this year. It is thien for the first time that Denver played with a hard ball and started practicing for the sake of school team.
When he represented his school team in the month of September everyone was amazed with the bowling of Denver as he bagged several wickets. Thus he was selected to play at the district-level.
In the same month the district level match was held at Ajjarkad Udupi. He was later selected to play at the state-level too. The state-level match was held at Karwar in the month of October. Denver repeated the good performance taking three wickets in three matches. So he was selected to play in the national-level to represent Karnataka team.
Denver played four matches against Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. His team won matches against Orissa and Rajasthan but lost to other two states. But in these four matches he took 6 wickets and showed his talent once again.
Denver never went for any training or coaching in cricket yet he played a good game.
“I am happy about the achievement of my son but I do not know how to give him training so that he can build his career in cricket,” said Benedicta Mendonca, mother of Denver who is a housewife.
His father Dennis Mendonca works abroad and is very happy about the achievement of his son. He has one elder brother Donald who is pursuing his studies in Bangalore.