A quiet one-line press release by the BCCI announced that a certain Gurkeerat Singh Mann had been added to the Indian squad
just before the 2nd Test against South Africa. There had been no
injuries, which made the inclusion even more baffling. Mann had been
originally a part of the ODI squad against South Africa but had failed
to get a game in the series.
Indeed,
Mann's domestic form had been tremendous enough to merit an inclusion in
the Test squad. After the two Ranji Trophy matches that he has played
this season, he had a staggering batting average of 209 and had taken 9
wickets to go with it.
But to trace
Mann's first tryst with fame, we have to go further back to understand
the hype that has built around this quiet, unassuming Punjab lad.
Humble beginnings
Mann
first burst into public consciousness as the youngster who had pulled
off a blinder on the boundary ropes to dismiss Ross Taylor in the IPL in
2013. The 83 he scored for Indian Red in a Challenger Trophy match
against Delhi the same year and a series of all-round match-winning
performances for the junior Punjab team are sadly not much talked about
now.
Son of Rupinder Singh Mann, who
works at Punjab Mandi board, Gurkeerat had earlier performed brilliantly
for Punjab in the U-19 Cooch Behar tournament and also played his part
in the U-22 side that lifted the CK Nayudu Trophy in 2011.
His
Punjab debut came in 2012 where he tasted almost instant success. He
scored an impressive 236 runs in his first five matches. His record in
List A competitions is even more inspiring -- in his 35 matches in the
first four seasons, Mann accumulated a staggering 1193 runs.
He
failed to come into the limelight during his maiden IPL season with the
Kings XI Punjab in 2012. But he continued to score heavily in the Ranji
Trophy, finishing the 2014 season as Punjab's highest scorer, with 677
runs from 14 innings at an average of 56.41. This earned him a call up
to the India A side, a decision that was about to change his life.
Success with India A
In
the first game against Bangladesh A, Mann scored a brilliant 65 and
came with figures of 5 for 29. In the Triangular Series final against
Australia A earlier this year, Mann had impressed everyone with his
all-round skills.
He had picked up two
crucial wickets with his off-spin, getting the prized scalps of Joe
Burns and Callum Ferguson. While chasing a modest total of 227, India A
had been reduced to the precarious position of 82 for 4 by a fiery
Australian attack comprising James Pattinson, Nathan Coulter-Nile,
Gurinder Singh and Ashton Agar.
It was
then that Mann walked in to play an innings that decided his fate and
earned him a maiden call up to Team India. A match-winning 87 off 85
balls that included seven fours and two sixes -- the maturity and
composure he had displayed would have made his role model MS Dhoni
proud. Almost instantly, the cricketing world sat up and took notice.
Punjab's
Ranji Team coach Bhupinder Singh Sr. who deeply admires Mann's fearless
approach said, “He backs himself and has been influenced by Virender
Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh’s aggressive mindset. But, of late, he has
learnt the importance of adapting according to his team’s needs.”
He
was always touted to play for India one day. The knock on the door
became so hard that the selectors did not dare to ignore him after this.
Sanjeev Patil said, “The moment we looked at Gurkeerat, we looked at
his all-round ability. Looking at the need of the hour and the current
playing norms, we need to have more all-rounders. Gurkeerat has been
performing for the last two years. He has also played for India A and we
have seen him performing.”
The next no. 7 for India?
Gurkeerat
Singh had started as a top order batsman who batted at no. 3 for Punjab
but the team management had pushed him down the order and envisaged him
as a successful finisher. It was a move that has paid off and will
stand him in good stead should he make his debut as an all-rounder for
India.
Ever since Irfan Pathan went out
of the selectors' scheme of things, India have struggled to find their
next reliable all-rounder. A clinical finisher who could bat at no. 7
and turn his arm over has been the need of the hour for India for quite
some time now. Yuvraj Singh carried out the responsibility to great
effect during the 2011 World Cup.
Gurkeerat needs to play the role Yuvraj Singh played in the 2011 World Cup
Ravindra
Jadeja has been India's preferred choice for the no. 7 slot in ODIs but
he has failed to score runs consistently enough to merit the title of a
genuine all-rounder. Ravichandran Ashwin, who currently tops the ICC
list of Test all-rounders, has too classical and unhurried an approach
to be labelled as a power-hitter. Stuart Binny has failed to make the
most of the chances he has got so far and remains a peripheral figure in
the Indian squad.
During the last
decade, India did not have to worry for a finisher in limited overs
cricket because they could boast that they had the best man for the job.
But Dhoni's superhuman powers when it comes to finishing off matches is
truly on the wane and, if rumours are to be believed, his days are also
numbered.
The search for India's next
finisher has now intensified like never before. The stage seems to be
set for Gurkeerat Singh to make his grand entry.
Gurkeerat might be the preferred choice
The
fact that selectors have chosen to drop Raina for India's tour to Down
Under and included Gurkeerat is a fair signal of the direction in which
the wind is blowing. The level-headedness, maturity and calmness he has
shown in his run chases for India A seems to have got the message across
to the selectors.
His greatest plus point is his ability to stay unfazed under pressure. “Mushkil kaam karenge tabhi aage badhenge (Only
if you take up tough tasks will you progress),” he says in an interview
to Livemint. “I like playing under pressure. I think that brings out
the best in me.”
And he has never been
short of role models to admire as he admits that he closely follows
Dhoni and has Yuvraj Singh to mentor him in the Punjab team. "In the
current lot, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is my batting role model because we
both play very much at the same batting order. I relate to his game a
lot, and I earnestly watch him bat whenever he is playing for India. I
get to learn a lot from him," he told reporters after India A defeated
Bangladesh A at the M Chinnaswamy stadium.
His
long-time coach Sukhwinder Singh Tinku in an interview to the Indian
Express gushed eloquent about his pupil's abilities and said he believed
that Gurkeerat has the perfection to be a consistent finisher for
India. “He is good against spinners, solid at defence, powerful in
hitting and good off both backfoot as well as front foot.
"Where
other batsmen would defend a certain delivery, he would play a big
shot. So you would think that he is playing very fast, but actually he
is playing normal. Actually his basics are very strong. So every format
looks easy. He’s intelligent when it comes to picking his moments with
the bat,” Tinku said.
Not since MS
Dhoni has there been so much excitement and expectation from a youngster
even before he made his debut for India. Gurkeerat has to be patient --
he will surely get his chances and when he does, he needs to grab them
with both hands. Like any youngster, he would want to make a name for
himself. And in a country which has been perennially short of good
all-rounders, India need him to come good at the moment.
source:sportskeeda.com
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