“Stay hungry, stay foolish,” Steve Jobs had famously uttered in his Stanford University commencement speech in 2005.
Tamil Nadu’s teen batter Andre Siddarth, 19, emphasised the first part of the phrase, speaking to Sportstar at the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) High Performance Centre on Tuesday.
“You need to be hungry. I can’t be satisfied. For instance, I got 111 against Maharashtra (for TNCA President’s XI in the ongoing Buchi Babu tournament). I was not satisfied with it. I wanted to make it a double hundred that day. So, my mindset for now is that I shouldn’t get out. That’s the main thing. And just to be hungry for whatever is coming ahead,” he said.
Despite scoring 612 runs from 12 innings at an average of 68 in his debut Ranji Trophy season (2024-25), he said he wasn’t satisfied with his campaign.
“I had scored 600 runs, but was kind of disappointed that we didn’t progress (Tamil Nadu lost in the quarterfinal versus Vidarbha). I knew that I had scored five fifties (and a hundred). If I had converted that into two or three hundreds, then I would have been more satisfied,” he said.
Siddarth, who typically bats in a free-flowing manner, had to bat for time with the bowlers to help his team Jolly Rovers CC avoid conceding the first-innings lead to Mylapore RC-A at the A.M. Jain College ground in the TNCA first division league recently.
On being able to both attack and defend effectively, he said: “I personally believe that the mental aspect of the game is more important than any other skill. And I have been putting myself in difficult situations in my batting and fielding practice, and fitness drills. So, I think it has been reflecting in my matches.
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“At A.M. Jain, yes, I played around 30 balls with Sandeep Warrier (the No. 11 batter) then. And I had to defend to save the game. Against Maharashtra (111), I knew that I had to attack. So, now I know that I’ve been equipped enough to take it to the Ranji Trophy.”
Talking about dealing with both the new and old balls as a middle-order batter in the Ranji Trophy, he said: “That’s the way I practise. I practise with both the old and new balls with my dad. And since junior cricket, I’ve been playing up and down (in the batting order). So, I have a certain idea of how to play in the middle order and how to play at the top. I’m grateful enough that I’ve been flexible from my early days.”
Jobs’ second part of the phrase refers to keeping one’s mind fresh and not loaded. Siddarth was instilled with Dhoni’s version of the same during his stint with CSK last IPL season.
“I had a chat (with Dhoni) at the Wankhede (stadium) during our team practice. And he told me just one thing – to stay calm. I thought that everyone says that.
“But he explained to me that while being calm, one important thing is to try to keep your mind blank. And that is very tough. If not in form or not on song, it’s really tough,” he said.
Published on Sep 03, 2025
