Flighting the red ball to flummox batters after a perfect set-up is increasingly becoming a rare art form. Like classical music and long-form writing; in cricket, attacking spin bowling is taking a backseat as spinners choose to perfect being masterfully defensive.
T20 cricket pays the bills. Moeen Ali may have endured the pain of a blistered finger for the Ashes, but he’s not sure if he wants to keep playing Test cricket. The England off-spinner’s IPL contract is worth ₹
Flighting the red ball to flummox batters after a perfect set-up is increasingly becoming a rare art form. Like classical music and long-form writing; in cricket, attacking spin bowling is taking a backseat as spinners choose to perfect being masterfully defensive.
T20 cricket pays the bills. Moeen Ali may have endured the pain of a blistered finger for the Ashes, but he’s not sure if he wants to keep playing Test cricket. The England off-spinner’s IPL contract is worth ₹8 crores. He bowled on an average, 10 balls per match in IPL 2023.
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But that’s not the Saurabh Kumar story. Drift, dip and bounce is what the Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner has sworn by ever since the time he gave up an Indian Air Force job to pursue his cricket dream.
In the just concluded Duleep trophy, the 30-year-old Saurabh with his 16 wickets in two matches finished the highest wicket-taker. His 8-wicket haul in the second innings of the quarter-final was his 20th 5-wicket haul and career best showing. It was also his 7th 10-wicket haul in a first-class match. In the semi-final, he engineered Suryakumar Yadav’s downfall by inviting the compulsive aggressor to drive by opening up a gap in the field. Against the prolific Sarfaraz Khan, he produced a peach to catch his outside edge.
His 264 first-class wickets in 62 matches (Avg 24.67) have seen him account for many prized scalps. Although a Test cap has remained elusive after nine years of first-class grind, the diminutive spinner’s spirit isn’t broken. “I am very close to my father (Ramesh Chand). He was a junior engineer with Aakashvani radio. His knowledge about cricket is quite limited. But one thing he has always told me is ‘uparwale ke ghar, der hai, andher nahi (it’s late, not dark with the supreme force),” he said. “He asks me to keep working hard. I don’t feel any frustration.”
Saurabh’s spiritual and the philosophical outlook deserves applause. But he isn’t shy in admitting that his skill-sets are fast losing relevance. “Spinners are constantly under attack in white-ball cricket. The leg-spinners still find a way being able to spin the ball both the ways, and with their natural variation. It’s much tougher for left-arm spinners,” he said. “But you look at the likes of Jaddu bhai (Ravindra Jadeja) and Axar (Patel), they are still doing well.”
SAGE MINDSET
That’s the other irony of being Saurabh Kumar. He’s the Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik born in the MS Dhoni era, the Rajinder Goel and Padmakar Shivalkar born in the Bishen Bedi era. Jadeja comes with sublime all-round skills, Axar too brings forth his all-round utility. A constant with the India A set-up during the past couple of years, the closest Saurabh has come to winning a Test cap is when he was picked for the Bangladesh tour, last year. But even with Jadeja out injured, there was Kuldeep Yadav in waiting, who got his turn.
“Till I am playing, there will be competition. Whoever is doing well is because of their own destiny. No one can steal anyone else’s spot. If it’s meant to happen to me, it will,” Saurabh says when speaking about his mindset.
One thing the Ghaziabad spinner is not short off is belief in his bowling methods. “I had a good Vijay Hazare (ODI) tournament after missing two years of white-ball cricket, while i was away with the A team and on tour with the Indian team as a net bowler. I do believe, I can find my way through, in all formats, with the game that I have,” said the spinner, who whom the carrom ball holds no particular allure.
Saurabh has twice bagged ₹20 lakh base price IPL contracts – for Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017 and Punjab Kings in 2021. But, that’s as far he could travel in the moneyed league. “IPL khelna to hai (I do want to play the IPL). But if I don’t get a chance, what can I do?” he asked.
No IPL leaves Saurabh to cope with longer intervals between tournaments. He played the Duleep trophy after a four-month gap. “I work on my bowling in the off season,” he said. “I set up a single wicket net and bowl long 20-25 over spells, for at least 3 days-a-week. Red ball cricket tests your temperament. For every 5-wicket haul, there are many wicketless spells. You can’t compromise on practice.”
While he may not have a multi-million-dollar IPL contract to show, the classical spinner is not short of admirers. “I attended spin-bowling camps with (Bishen) Bedi Sir in my early days. He is advancing in years, but is still in touch. He likes my bowling,” he said. “It makes him happy seeing my flight.”
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