Left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar’s masterclass helped Punjab Kings beat Chennai Super Kings in their den to stay in the hunt for the playoffs.
Harpreet Brar has picked only six wickets at 7.21 in 10 matches for Punjab Kings in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL). But it is his two spells that have stood out in a tournament, where forget finger spinners every bowler has been taken to the cleaners. The 28-year-old gave away 13 for 2 from his quota at Chinnaswamy Stadium, the bowlers’ graveyard against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He picked up the wickets of Rajat Patidar and Glenn Maxwell. Then on Wednesday night, at Chennai Super Kings (CSK) den Chepauk, he choked the life out of the home batting, taking two wickets of Ajinkya Rahane and big-hitting Shivam Dube. And in both of the matches, he didn’t concede a single boundary.
Ahead of the tournament, the Punjab Kings head coach Sunil Joshi has told this newspaper that he is banking on Harpreet Brar to win them a few matches with his bowling after he played a pivotal role in Punjab lifting the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. “Since he has been playing only white-ball, so there is a tendency to bowl quicker and he just wants to rush through the overs. Last season, I told him to bowl the red-ball length in the T20Is as well because he stands 6-foot-3-inch tall, and can deceive anyone if he would just start to vary his pace a little,” Joshi had said.
All those traits Joshi has talked about were visible in Brar’s bowling. Against RCB, he bowled a quicker one to clean up Rajat Patidar and then was asked by Virat Kohli to let Glenn Maxwell breath, before castling the Australian with a tad slower one. The ball that got Patidar’s wicket was bowled at 98 kph and the Maxwell one was at 93 kph, a subtle change of pace.
“Lst year Sunil sir pointed out a few smaller things. Like I can’t just rely on the surface. I must prepare to read batsmen and pick their strengths and weaknesses. I must use the crease well, and the angles. Now I feel I have more options with my bowling, I have started putting more revs on my ball. This is my second year with him and it has been a great learning curve,” Harpreet Brar told The Indian Express ahead of their tie against CSK.
Against CSK, Harpreet Brar changed the momentum towards Punjab after pinning Shivam Dube, the hard-hitting spin destroyer on a golden duck. Brar again bowled a bit slow, Dube who went for a big heave was across the line and was trapped in front.
In the tournament for the past couple of years, there has been a trend that left-arm spinners have not been used against left-handed batsmen. The likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel were not used by their respective franchises when there was a southpaw in the middle. But Harpreet Brar doesn’t believe in this theory.
“Abhi ke cricket mey kahaan bhagoge aap (Where will you hide in today’s cricket). I know there is a lot of talk about the matchups left-arm spinners can’t bowl to the left-handed batsmen. I know it is difficult but that’s the challenge. At the nets these days I only train how to bowl to the southpaws. Sunil Sir has told me to try and keep them away from the strike, give them an easy single, let them hit good balls and keep bowling at one spot, don’t let them free their hands. I know it is easier said than done, but that’s how I prepare against the left-handed batsmen,” he said.
“Forget lefty, even the right-handed batsmen can take you down. Cricket has evolved. Earlier batsmen used to take three or four balls to get the feel of the pitch and conditions. Now you see even if someone is making their debut, they will go after you from the first ball. You can’t just be happy by taking a wicket and thinking oh this is a new batsman, he will take his time. You literally can’t escape,” he added.
The rise of Harpreet Brar
This is Harpreet Brar’s sixth season with the Punjab Kings and in the handful of games, he has played he has had a few memorable moments, like smoking Kagiso Rabada for a six — which prompted an excited Danny Morrison to remark on air “Keep that Canadian visa in your bag young man.” The most memorable one was taking the wickets of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, and AB de Villiers in one spell in 2021.
Despite his exploits in the white-ball, Brar has been consistently ignored by the Punjab selectors but he has not lost hope because his two stints as a net bowler with the Indian set-up (Asia Cup and West Indies tour of India (2022), he was told by the head coach Rahul Dravid that he would be a bigger threat with the red ball.
“Those words gave him hope. Everyone was impressed and surprised as well that I am yet to make my first-class debut. Two years have gone since but I am optimist that next time I will go in that dressing room as a player not as a net bowler,” said Brar.
Brar’s journey has been very difficult. After playing for Punjab U-16, he was consistently ignored by the junior selectors. In 2017, he decided to move to Canada.
“Paaji pura Punjab hi Canada jana chahta hai (The entire Punjab wants to go to Canada),” he burst into laughter.
“Bahut frustration tha. (There was too much frustration). I was hopeless, but I think destiny had something else in store for me,” he added.
Later that year, Brar was picked for the Punjab U-23 squad and he didn’t disappoint. The lanky spinner took 57 wickets and helped Punjab win the Col CK Nayudu Trophy, but since then he is yet to play in the red-ball format.
“Cricket started with red ball. From 2006 to 2018 I have only bowled with red ball. I took 57 wickets and we won the Col CK Nayudu Trophy. Till then I used to give four or five IPL trials every season but I got selected because of my performance with the red-ball,” he said.
Source:indianexpress.com