SK Academy institutes spl awards after VB Chandrashekhar, DJ Gokulakrishnan

Chennai Super Kings cricketer Rachin Ravindra and CEO KS Viswanathan, along with VB Chandrasekhar and DJ Gokulakrishnan’s families, presented the awards to the winners in a special event held here on Saturday.

About last night

Rachin Ravindra joins the celebration as #SKAturns2 #SuperKingsAcademy pic.twitter.com/YjhlhLPwv8

— Super Kings Academy (@SuperKingsAcad) March 24, 2024

The VB Chandrasekhar Super Kings Academy Cricketer of the Year (Boys) award was won by Akshay Sarangdhar, who was part of the Tamil Nadu Under-19 and Under-23 squads. The DJ Gokulakrishnan Super Kings Academy Cricketer of the Year (Girls) award was won by G Kamalini, who has played for Tamil Nadu senior team apart from the Under-15, 19 and 23 teams.

Rachin, who presented awards to the 19 state representatives from Super Kings Academy, also interacted with the students and told them about the experience of sharing the dressing room with Thala MS Dhoni who recently stepped down as the captain of the five-time IPL champion.

Sharing the dressing room with MS Dhoni, “To be able to share dressing room with someone like MS, is insane. I think, we all know what he’s achieved, not just for Chennai but also for India, too, and the type of aura he carries and everything. But I think the best thing about him is he is so calm and down to earth like you wouldn’t know, he achieved all he has. It just shows the type of person he is and he is a great role model for that because no matter what you achieve on the cricket field, you spend most of your time off it. So, he’s worked it out pretty well and he’s a great leader here in the dressing room.”

“For me playing cricket’s obviously very fun. It’s probably the number one thing I’d like to do in life but I think what’s important is we maintain that perspective. I am very lucky to play this game for a living so it’s obviously easy to take things for granted because you want to be as good as you want to be, the best player in the world etc. But I think we all remember the reason why we first played cricket and that’s for me, I enjoy the game. I love cricket, I love batting, I love bowling, I love winning games of cricket, I love helping my teammates out and for me, that’s what’s important. Runs and wickets are s ort of a by-product of all the work you do in the nets,” Rachin added.

“But that’ll come if you’re truly driven by your body, your heart to enjoy this beautiful game. I hope you guys remember and hope your parents keep encouraging you as well, because that’s what my mum and dad did so well for me,” he further said.