Saharsh Shwethan, a batter from the USA, and Ritvik Appidi, a bowling all-rounder also from the USA, have completed a huge achievement by making the USA 2025 CWI Rising Stars men’s U19 50-Over Championship Squad! Both players, who recently graduated from our High Performance Program over in Adelaide, will represent the United States during the championship, which is set to take place from June 30 to July 25 in St. Kitts & Nevis in the West Indies.
The tournament will be played in a 50-over format, with matches held across venues in Conaree, St. Paul’s, St. Mary’s Park (Cayon), and Elquemedo Willett Park, as well as an all-USA showdown between USA 1 and USA 2 and again during the playoff stages.
With his passion to improve as an athlete and cricketer, Saharsh first spoke to his father about wanting to achieve this. Saharsh said, "Thankfully, my academy had a connection with Shaun Seigert". The cricketer then went on to attend our High Performance Program in Australia to reach his goals. "I came here straight away because I wanted to improve my cricket ability and skills," said Saharsh, "Australia is obviously a very high cricketing nation, so my expectations were very high. I knew that the R66T Academy is really good. I heard a lot about it through social media platforms. I never really got into the depths of the R66T Academy, but I’m so glad that I did.”
After graduating from the High Performance Program and successfully making the USA 1 Squad, Saharsh’s extremely proud father exclaimed, “Saharsh got picked to play for USA u19 in the Caribbean u19 championship against Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, Guyana, Windward and Leeward Islands from July 1-July 24. He will wear national colors for the first time. Wanted to share the news and thank you for all the help in being a part of his growth!”
High Performance Program Director, Shaun Seigert, also shared his thoughts with us about their experience throughout the training, “Saharsh spent 4 months at the Root Academy in Adelaide last season and made quite an impression not just in terms of his skills but his desire to improve. His game was tested differently because of the conditions and cricket in Australia, which gave him an opportunity to develop aspects of his game that until now hadn’t been exposed. His desire to take the game on was no better shown than when he took on former Australian Test bowler Chad Sayers in a club game, but also having to learn stay in control. We look forward to his ongoing development and challenges as he progresses his game.”
“Ritvik spent 10 weeks with us in Adelaide as a promising young fast bowler. During that time, we worked on a few technical things to make his action more consistent and get more out of it. His attitude was very good, working hard giving him the best chance to improve and develop his skills. He is a promising fast bowler and will improve more as his body gets stronger and matures. We wish him well in his cricketing journey.”
Everyone at The R66T Academy would like to extend their congratulations to Saharsh and Ritvik!
To find out more about the R66T Academy High Performance Program and how you can follow in their footsteps, click here.