V.K. Vineeth’s long way to the middle, and the Virat Kohli lesson about staying focused

After years of waiting for his opening, V.K. Vineeth is making the most of his chance with India U-19. | Photo Credit: Shayan Acharya

He didn’t make the Tamil Nadu Under-14 or U-16 teams.

For V.K. Vineeth, the wait for a state opportunity stretched on while he continued playing and learning. His first real opening came only at U-19 level, when he made the Vinoo Mankad Trophy and Cooch Behar Trophy squads.

Last season, he finished as the highest run-scorer in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy, scoring 488 runs at an average of 69.71. That earned him a place at the BCCI-run Centre of Excellence’s High Performance Camp, followed by the tour of Sri Lanka with India U-19, where he scored a hundred in a Youth ODI.

Now, the 18-year-old is part of India U-19’s ongoing three-match Youth ODI series against Australia. On Monday, he made the most of his opportunity, scoring a gritty 87 as India sealed the series.

But the journey began much earlier, in Chennai, where Vineeth picked up a bat at the age of seven.

His father, a Southern Railway RPF employee, did not play cricket but had a keen interest in the game. His elder brother, K. Veeraviswa, a left-handed batter who played for Tamil Nadu U-19, became another early influence.

By the age of 12 or 13, Vineeth was playing seriously.

Chennai remained the centre of his cricketing life. The Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) gave him his first taste of playing before a sizeable crowd.

“I first played for India U-19, and from there, I went on to play the TNPL for the Dindigul Dragons. But it was a whole new experience because the crowd was different. At U-19 level, we don’t get that much of a crowd. So playing in front of a crowd and under the lights for the first time was unbelievable,” Vineeth told Sportstar.

“When I first saw the crowd, I was just shocked. It was very new for me,” he added with a smile.

Vineeth did not play the first couple of matches. He watched from the sidelines, carried water and gradually settled into the environment. Ravichandran Ashwin was the team’s mentor, while seniors such as B. Indrajith and Sandeep Warrier helped him put the occasion in perspective.

“They said that the focus should be on the game. Whether the crowd comes or not, we are going to play cricket, that’s all. The crowd is just an add-on, and that advice helped me,” he said.

Later, Vineeth featured in three games for the Dragons, scoring 82 runs at an average of 27.33 and a strike rate of 182.20. Though his highest score was 45, it was a valuable experience for the youngster.

Despite being in fine touch, he has fallen narrowly short of centuries several times at age-group level. He was dismissed for 99 and 94 in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy and 87 in a State match before scoring a hundred in Sri Lanka.

“I’m just trying to get over that,” he said, after falling short of another century against Australia U-19.

He has also reflected on how he approaches the final stretch of an innings.

“I used to play along the ground, whenever I reached 80 or 85, just like Virat Kohli used to do - grind, grind, grind - I used to do that as well. But I thought, in this match, it was in my range, so I tried to hit. It was an extraordinary catch, so I couldn’t do anything,” he said.

A Kohli fan, Vineeth is clear about what he needs to work on.

“I don’t try to hide my mistakes. I try to understand what I have to improve and what I can take from the learnings. That’s what I do.”

Away from cricket, he keeps a diary and listens to songs. “I just write a diary and read about whatever the day was.”

His ambition is straightforward. “My idea is to be the highest run-scorer whenever I play. That is my idea whenever I play, for whatever team I play for.”

He has been working on short balls and lofted shots against spinners. His inspiration is Kohli, whom he once watched train at the Centre of Excellence.

“He was very committed and dedicated. He just came, did his sprints, then he batted, and after batting, he instantly switched to fielding - catches, throws.”

What stayed with Vineeth was the discipline of the routine. “He didn’t get distracted for any reason. He was very committed and dedicated,” Vineeth said, adding with a smile: “The game is over, the day is over, that’s all. The next day, we have to start again.”

Published on Sep 22, 2026

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