A lot of credit to Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) high-flying campaign has understandably been given to their overseas cricketers Phil Salt, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. And in the first Qualifier against Sunrisers Hyderabad, it was Mitchell Starc, IPL’s most ever expensive buy, who blew away the most destructive top order with his pacy swing.
But under the shadow of the big names, three Indian uncapped players Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora have done the heavy lifting for the KKR.
KKR brought Mitchell Starc for Rs 24.75 crores to solve their bowling woes both in the powerplay and at the back end, but the Australian initially struggled to get going in the IPL after a hiatus of 10 years. When Starc was bleeding runs, it was India’s uncapped pacer duo of Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora, who stood up to the challenge.
Apart from giving the flying kiss send-off to the batsmen, Rana has bagged 17 wickets and his wicket-taking ability in the middle overs has caught everyone’s attention. While Arora has been excellent with his swing bowling upfront.
“These two boys have improved immensely under Bharat (Arun). He has done that with the Indian team. He has turned Siraj’s career around. Not to forget Bumrah and Shami as well,” former India coach Ravi Shastri said on air when KKR’s bowling coach’s face popped up on the big screen.
Vaibhav’s childhood coach Ravi Verma agrees with Shastri and says the former Indian bowling coach has worked tirelessly to make his ward a better bowler.
Harshit Rana celebrates with KKR teammates after helping the hosts beat SRH during an IPL 2024 match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. (Express photo by Partha Paul.)
“I can see the improvement. He has this natural nip-backer, but in this IPL he has also started bowling the outswingers. Bharat sir has worked on his wrist position and now suddenly he is bowling those outswingers as well,” Verma told The Indian Express. Arora has 10 scalps in nine games this season.
Meanwhile, Parvinder Awana, former Indian seamer, who has watched Rana from close quarters since his U-19 days, is impressed that the Delhi pacer has remained injury-free.
“He has always been an aggressive bowler. You would have seen the flying kisses, he has been doing that since U-19 years,” laughs Awana. He adds: “Delhi ka hai, tewar toh honge hi (He is from Delhi, attitude is natural).
“What has impressed me the most is that he has started taking care of his body. He remained injury-free. One thing that he needs to work on is to be more lean. Both Mayank (Yadav) and Harshit, I have told them from their U-19 days that they have to take care of their bodies. I hope now with Arun sir there, he has started giving value to his body.
“The other facet of his bowling that I have found fascinating is his off-cutters. In the first match, he defended 13 runs in the last over against Sunrisers Hyderabad with Heinrich Klassen at the crease. He is a hit-the-deck bowler but in this season, he has started hitting the good length more.
“He made his Ranji Trophy debut when I was Delhi’s bowling coach. He was impressive in the 2022-23 season but unfortunately got injured this year. I would love to see him and Mayank playing in the Ranji Trophy. The first-class cricket will make them the real cricketers not bowling the four overs,” says Awana, who is currently in Salem and is looking after the NCA’s U-19 bowlers camp.
On the other hand, Ramandeep Singh, who was signed by the Mumbai Indians in the IPL mega auction to fill the void of Hardik Pandya as an all-rounder, was released by the franchise last year. KKR roped him in and their team mentor Gautam Gambhir assured him that he would play all the games.
Judgment 💯
Technique 💯
Composure 💯Ramandeep Singh with one of the best catches you’ll see 😍👏
Watch the match LIVE on @StarSportsIndia and @JioCinema 💻📱#TATAIPL | #LSGvKKR | @KKRiders pic.twitter.com/VHoXgC0qGu
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 5, 2024
“Gautam paji said I will be batting at No 7 and No 8 and told me to prepare accordingly,” Ramandeep had told this Newspaper ahead of the Qualifier 1 against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
If it is Salt and Narine who always made the most of the powerplay to give KKR a flying start, it is Ramandeep, batting at No 7 or 8, who has provided the final flourish to his team. The 26-year-old from Punjab has played only 62 balls in his 13 outings, scoring 125 runs at the strike rate of 201.61.
“Ahead of the IPL, we had a camp in Mumbai under Abhishek Nayar. I have never batted so much in my entire life. I used to bat for three hours, 20 different bowlers were bowling at me. All the situations and scenarios were planned by Abhishek sir. For range hitting he even booked a ground in Thane, where I used to practice power hitting.
“Gautam sir gave me the backing that I will be playing all the matches and instructed me to make my training schedule difficult. Luckily, when I arrived in Mumbai, Abhishek sir had all the plans and I just started following his instructions. The Impact Player rule has also helped but in that camp, I have developed this muscle memory that I will go after the bowlers from ball one,” he says.
However, the all-rounder is missing his bowling as he has only bowled four balls in this tournament so far, but KKR’s bowling coach Arun is ensuring he stays in the rhythm.
“Arey! Bharat sir makes sure that I bowl at least for an hour in every alternative session. Gautam sir and Shreyas bhai have also told me to be ready and I am,” says Ramandeep. With all the Indian players more than ready, no wonder that KKR have sailed into the final.
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