20 year old Rowland Barrington is christened after none else than the combative and hugely successful England middle order batsman of the 1960's. His father, a crazed fan of Kenneth Frank Barrington, was blissfully unaware that his son would don cricketing flannels himself some day. Rowland Barrington launched his first class career with a century on debut against Kerala at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, joining legends like GR Viswanath in the elite group of eight Karnataka batsmen to have performed the feat. The unassuming youngster says that he really didn't expect to do so well but God was on his side.

Coming up the ranks through the Under 13, 16 and 19 levels, even captaining his state as a junior, Barrington always managed to stay in the thick of the action. Indeed he was a more than handy bowler too and it was only after turning sixteen that he began to take his batting far more seriously. Although he's been a trifle inconsistent in his maiden season in the first class game, which produced 507 runs at 33.8 with three half centuries besides the ton, it has been an important page in his cricketing education. Coming in as an opener, Barrington has settled in snugly into the No.3 spot, but it remains to be seen where he will bat if Rahul Dravid is able to play more of domestic cricket.

Not a power hitter at this stage but more an exponent of touch play, as the years go by he is sure to develop greater strength in those arms and shoulders. Several bread and butter strokes adorn his repertoire, including the drive through mid on and cover point, the flick to mid wicket and the glide to third man. Barrington likes to learn from the attitude of other players and is an unabashed admirer of Rahul Dravid's focused and single minded approach. Busy with league cricket in Bangalore for the last couple of months, he is off with his Karnataka mates to Kenya towards the end of July for a three week sojourn that should further sharpen his cricketing skills and give him a taste of the pleasures and challenges of touring.