Aggressive Streak

That's what ILS captain Krishna Mohan imbibed from Shanthakumaran Sreesanth during his school playing days for Ernakulam Cricket Club

Suhrid Barua, Pune Mirror, February 19, 2009

He rubbed shoulders with Shantakumaran Sreesanth during his school days in Cochin, and the aggressive streak of the fiery speedster seemed to have rubbed off on ILS captain Krishna Mohan as he churned out a clinical all-round effort to propel ILS College into the semifinals of the 2nd Damodar Karandak Inter-College Cricket Tournament. "I was playing for the Ernakulam Cricket Club in Cochin six years back where Sreesanth was our club manager. I still remember how he used to tell all the team members about the need to be 'aggressive'. I have imbibed a lot of that aggressive streak from him," recalls Mohan, who on Wednesday first held the ILS innings together, top-scoring with a responsible 48 in his team's score of 240 for 8, and later wrecking the happiness of Abasaheb Garware College (Arts) to script a 54-run victory.
Mohan, who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm spin, fondly remembers how Sreesanth used to advise him on giving hundred per cent to every ball. "He (Sreesanth) always insisted on thinking of every ball as a wicket-taking delivery. I was in class ten at that time and I still remember Sreesanth telling me to bowl every ball with the intent of taking a wicket,'' reminisced Mohan, who also played with another former India seamer from Kerala, Tinu Yohanan for Swantons Club.
Digressing from the confabulation, one probed him about how near-perfect example he has set of the saying 'captain leading from the front'. "I'm sure with my 48 and four-wicket haul, I have done that," he blushes. "That apart, we have a very talented side that can go the distance if we keep playing the way we are at the moment," quipped Mohan, whose side won its first two games before losing a thriller by one run to Modern College in its third tie. "The loss to Modern College still rankles. It was touch and go. But the convincing win has put us in the right frame of mind for the semifinals," he concluded.