By Dorian MelwinCHENNAI: Despite a dismal end to their Tamil Nadu Premier League campaign in the playoffs, Trichy Grand Cholas had a bright spark in medium pacer K Easwaran. The 29-year-old picked up another wicket in Trichy’s Qualifier 2 clash against Kovai Kings, taking his tally to 15 wickets across seven games at an economy rate of 8.24.Easwaran hails from Padmanabhapuram, a small town near Nagercoil located 20 km from the Kerala border. As a youngster, he plied his trade in tennis-ball tournaments. When Easwaran was in his first year of college, a group of friends asked him to start playing club cricket. “At first the transition was tough. I was scared of getting hurt by the leather ball but as I continued playing, the fear went away,” Easwaran told TOI.Easwaran’s action consists of a small hop and a full-360 arm swing before delivery. The action makes it even harder for batters to decode Easwaran. “I developed the action while playing tennis-ball tournaments. I had switched over to a different action after transitioning to red ball, but it caused me some issues. So I switched back to my tennis-ball action.”Easwaran got selected for Kanyakumari’s district team in 2016, getting noticed by state selectors after his performances in a district-level game against Kanchipuram where he took nine wickets. That eventually led him to be a net bowler for both India ‘A’ and Tamil Nadu by 2017. Around this time, he started playing in TNCA second division for IOB. By the time COVID hit in 2020, he had joined first division side Nelson CC, where he continues to play to this day.Among all the coaches Easwaran has trained under, perhaps the one that had the biggest impact on him was M Shanmugam. Before leading Tamil Nadu to Cooch Behar glory in 2025, Shanmugam served as Nellai Royal Kings’ head coach for the 2022 season. Under Shanmugam, Easwaran was given the opportunity to try out for the team, eventually getting picked up in that year’s auction.Reflecting back on his time under Shanmugam, Easwaran said “Shanmugam sir taught me a lot of things. When he was Nellai’s head coach, he gave me a trial with the team. I had known him for some time before the trial, so he knew about my skills. I impressed at the trial, after which Shanmugam sir came to me and said that they will definitely buy me during the auction.”He picked up nine wickets in his debut season before moving to Trichy for 2023, where he became a solid contributor. It was at Nellai where Easwaran struck up a partnership with pacer Athisayaraj Davidson, which continued at Trichy. “Me and Athisayaraj work closely together, both on and off the pitch, so our partnership is almost dynamic in nature.”In the lead-up to 2026 however, Easwaran suffered a personal setback.“My mother passed away two weeks before the start, and I was in and out of hospital with no time to prepare. So, I joined the camp immediately and suffered a side strain. Everyone in the team knew about my circumstance, so they asked me before the Salem game whether I would be able to play. I said ‘yes’. Whenever I take a wicket, I look up and dedicate it to my mother up in heaven,” said Easwaran.When asked about his role models, Easwaran said one of the people that he looks up to is fellow Trichy teammate Antony Dhas. It is not a huge surprise given both cricketers hail from Kanyakumari district. Speaking about Dhas’ impact on him, Easwaran said “Dhas anna is like a brother to me. He tells me to focus on my line and length because my action is tricky for batters. If I’m honest, he is my biggest role model, my inspiration.“Easwaran’s ultimate aim is to make the TN’s senior team, highlighting his ambition by saying, “I have been given many jerseys by my friends. But I have sworn to myself that I won’t wear a jersey unless it has my name on my back. Because it is a huge thing for a boy from down south to make the state team.”
