Gaggi's fascination with red cherry

CHANDIGARH: Life has been a rollercoaster ride for this 19-year-old boy from the dusty town of Mansa. Wiry Gurinder Singh would churn out balls with his left arm spin and get hit all over the park. His friend would mock at him for plying a trade that very few opt for when they set out to make bowling as their career.
Unfazed, Gurinder 'Gaggi', as he is popularly known, would continue to bowl the same stuff till everybody packed up their kits and loaded them back on their cycle.He would try to squeeze in a few extra moments in search of that enigmatic delivery. Could this be his Mendis-moment or would he develop a Malinga-like knack?
In search of the answer, Gaggi patiently kept putting in hours and hours, honing his skills.
But a time came when the learning curve took a familiar pattern and refused to budge. His talent started stagnating and he faced the danger of being tagged yet another run-of-the-mill bowler who could not bowl fast but had that ability to roll over his left arm, a quality that very few possess in any team.
Gaggi was not ready to accept that. His thoughts sprouted from a 'will to make it big'. Gaggi then did what every village youth thinks of when his horizon starts expanding. Heeding to his uncle Ramandeep's advice, the youngster shifted base to Chandigarh, a place where his dreams could be realized. He made it to Sector 16 cricket stadium and was readily accepted on the merit of his talent.
New place, new friends and a slightly intimidating but totally different atmosphere. He did have jitters for the first two weeks. But then the same left arm spin, which had made him a butt of jokes in Mansa, started taking him places. He got into the inter-state under-19 team, went on to take 34 wickets in his first year, and subsequently 36 in 2010-11.
The very inimitable Gaggi came good with bad and his ambidextrousness fetched him 450 runs too.
Needless to say, Gaggi has become a hot property now. Making his debut in Vijay Hazare Trophy for Punjab in 2010, he has attended three camps in National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bangalore, and was in the standby for Junior World Cup in New Zealand this year.
The tweaker's exploits have earned him the junior cricketer of the year award given by Punjab Cricket Association for 2010-11. "It is the biggest achievement of my life till date. Of course, making it to the standby of the India team in Junior World Cup team too was a big moment and boosted my morale," said Gaggi, who is a first-year student of BA course at DAV College, Sector 10.
His ultimate aim is to make it to Indian team but the immediate task is to make a place in the Punjab Ranji team. "It is very big challenge... If I can do it this year, it will pave way for other bigger goals," said Gaggi, who has been training under coach Harish Sharma at the Sector 16 cricket academy.
For this, he has been working on his getting his line and length straight. But it is his flight and trajectory that seems to be his immediate focus. Gaggi's favourite cricketer is Yuvraj Singh, who himself is a product of this academy.