At five feet ten, Podar's Sushant Hemant Marathe stands tall -- literally and figuratively. If you have seen him play, you cannot miss his Adam Gilchrist-like demeanour both behind and in front of the stumps. Sushant too is an explosive left-handed batsman and keeper and has followed in the true footsteps of his idol.

Like all aspiring cricketers, Sushant started when he was barely in the third standard as a eleven-year-old kid. He would hold the willow and amble his way across to a ground located bang opposite his Vile Parle house. Given his natural talent and commitment, he soon found himself in the company of contemporary players who had enrolled with Dilip Vengsarkar's Elf Academy. This was the beginning of Sushant's brush with serious cricket.

With his skills honed under the haw-like eyes of his tutors, Sushant went on to cross one milestone after another. The Elf Cup, the Worli Trophy, the Santosh Kumar Ghose Trophy, the Saamna Trophy et al. With each tournament, he fared better and better.

His first major success came when he was chosen to clim the Under-14 ladder in 2000. He not only justified the faith selectors had in him, he gave a fair and consisten account of himself.

At Ahmedabad, Sushant scored three fifties in four matches. He made his mark, but the road was still ridden with hurdles. The competition was tough even by those standards.

Sushant should have walked his way into the U-16. But that did not happen. He was, however, second time lucky. And he exploded onto the scene with a performance that left watchers in little doubt that here was a cricketer who was worthy of taking many more strides. In that tournament, Sushant was the second highest scorer with two centuries and a fifty. His role behind the stumps also got noticed.

Like all cricketers, Sushant went through a rather lean patch when he got selected for the Under-17. "That was a good opportunity, but unfortunately I didn't click too well", conceded Sushant modestly.

But somewhere at the back of his mind, this must have nagged the young cricketer. He decided to steal the march with a vengeance.

So when he was included in the Bombay Under-19 team, Sushant put himself in the top gear. Although, he was mediocre in the three-day matches, he was the cynosure of all eyes in the one-dayers. Scoring two fifties in the league matches and a blazing century in the finals, Sushant heralded his arrival for the big time.

Meanwhile, Sushant also played in U-16 and U-17 inter-zonal matches. A milestone in this chequered career was his election for the India Under-17.

Even as he played hectic cricket, Sushant further sharpened his skills at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore under the watchful eyes of Balwinder Singh Sandhu.

His consistent performance found him as the first stand-by for the West Zone U-19. But Sushant has set his eyes higher. He intends to fight his way into the Mumbai Ranji team inside of two years. "If all goes well, I would be happy to be in the team this year itself", hopes Sushant, who intends to emulate his idol Gilchrist.

As for hard work, Sushant doesn't fight shy. If he blends his commitment with the exploits he has shown thus far, the day is not far when India too would have an Adam Gilchrist in its repertoire.