After watching Shreyas at a local tournament a little over a year ago, Dravid presented him several bats and a pair of pads he used in his last international appearance in England in 2011. The 19-year-old, who grew up idolizing Dravid, was overjoyed. "I follow Rahul Dravid's style of batting. I want to be like him," said Shreyas, who cherishes Dravid's words of wisdom, "Keep working hard, you will come up", just as much as does the bat.
"Rahul sir is my cricketing God. I admire his style, discipline and commitment," says the U-19 India cricketer who motivates himself reading biographies of Sports personalities.
The all-rounder has been among the runs since his under-13 days when he became the youngest cricketer to represent the state in that age-category.
Shreyas has led Karnataka teams in the U-13, U-15, U-16 and U-19 age-groups. He has made his presence felt for the Karnataka U-22 side as well as the 'A' team. He also made a brief appearance for the India U-19 side in their quadrangular series in Visakapatnam in 2011.
A right-handed batsman and a leg spinner, Shreyas has slammed more than 15 centuries and has claimed nearly 200 wickets so far in state and zonal tournaments. He also snapped a double hat-trick (of wickets), when representing Frank Anthony Public School against Presidency, four summers ago.
Last season in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy an under-19 one-day competition, Shreyas scored 217 runs in six matches, collecting ten wickets. In the Cooch Behar four-day competetion he has 260 runs and 27 wickets under his belt.
Earlier in the summer his all-round performance helped Southern Champs Jain University clinch the T20 All-India University Cricket Championship title with a two-run victory over Kent Northern Stars Delhi. He claimed two wickets and scored an unbeaten 84 in their wining cause. He has several double hundreds to his credit, the one he appreciates most is his unbeaten knock of 216 for President's XI against Bangalore in the Zonal two-day tournament last season.
Shreyas, whose mother Amitha played state-level volleyball and father Gopal Ramaswamy was, a club cricketer for 20 years, aims to break into the Karnataka Ranji Trophy squad this season. "The two tournaments of immediate focus is the Karnataka 'A' and the Shafi Darashah. With good performances here, I may be able to get to the next level. Every cricketers dream is to play Ranji Trophy and I hope through performances in these tournaments I can do it. I have worked hard enough for that," said Shreyas
Shreyas was encouraged to play cricket by his father Ramaswamy, who is the director of the sports management firm Mercuri Talent. Ramaswamy points out that Shreyas was a good student academically, especially in his younger days. "As he progressed in cricket there was a gradual dip in his grades, but he is very ambitious," the father said of his son.
A second year Bcom student at SBM Jain College, Shreyas knows the importance of education even for a sportsman. "I want to be an educated cricketer. I want to pursue a MBA," he said.
Irfan Sait, his coach at the Karnataka Institute of Cricket (KIOC), applauded his ward. "Shreyas has got better temperament than any cricketer of his age," said Sait. "This guy has got the ability to switch gears according to the situation and the format of the game. He's a coach's delight."
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