Volleyball in India is a sport that can’t necessarily be considered a mass sport as such but the country has produced a number of known players, the last of whom is Ajith Lal Chandran.
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The country of India is obsessed with the sport of cricket, which at some level is understandable given the sheer success that the country has experienced in the international arena of the game. But a country consisting of more than a billion people will always produce capable sportspeople in sports beyond cricket too, even if igniting the interest in sports beyond cricket among the masses remains something of a work in progress. Nevertheless, the country is full of talented sportspeople who deserve to be recognized as among the best in their fields. One such athlete is volleyball player Ajith Lal Chandran.
Ajith was born on February 14 1996 in the state of Kerala – a part of the country that has produced a number of top athletes in the country and also has a history of churning out excellent volleyball players.
Perhaps the most notable volleyball player to hail from the state would be Jimmy George, who led India to a bronze medal in the 1986 Asian Games at Seoul and also played professionally for a number of clubs in Abu Dhabi and Italy.
Yet those in the know believe that if he hones his game, Ajith could well become the best ever attacking player to emerge from the country.
Born in Trivandrum, Ajith’s interest in the sport didn’t come until much later in his life. By his own admission, he only took up the sport seriously once he finished school.
However, he did play the sport at a club in Kalady, Trivandrum, where he was spotted by his coach Harilal who then advised him to join St. Xaviers College.
It was at St. Xaviers College where he got his big break in the sport as his talent caught the eye of coach E.K. Kishore Kumar, who played a key role in recruiting him to the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) volleyball side.
Kumar, who also was a part of Kerala’s volleyball coaching side, believed that Ajith possessed plenty of natural talent and with the right amount of hard work could become a top player.
Ajith would later admit that playing for BPCL helped improve his game tremendously and he would go on to become a key cog of the Kerala side that won the National volleyball championships in 2017 and 2018.
Playing as an attacker, Ajith used his 6”2’ frame to leap into the air and hit winning smashes on the regular.
His ability to pull off this maneuver on a regular basis saw him become a crowd favourite during the National volleyball championships in 2018 that took place in his home state.
Ajith Lal also showcased his talents in the franchise-based tournament the Pro Volleyball League, playing for Calicut Heroes in 2019.
He played a key part in the side’s run to the final in the inaugural edition of the tournament which they ultimately lost to Chennai Spartans.
Given he is only 25-years-old, one can expect the spiker from Trivandrum to achieve bigger things in the sport in due time.
