Siddarth Kaul keen to win Ranji Trophy for Punjab

CHANDIGARH: Sid out hai-Delhi's relief on finding Punjab without its pace-bowling spearhead in the home game earlier this month tells you about the amount of respect domestic cricket oppositions have for Siddarth Kaul. Back from injury, he is keen to win Ranji Trophy.
Mandeep Singh and Gurkeerat Mann are instrumental in Punjab's good run but the team is stingless without Kaul. Punjab conceded a first innings lead against Delhi and Kaul, true to his nature, said bluntly from the side lines: "Right areas mein bowl nahi daale humne (We didn't bowl in the right areas)."
When the 29-year-old came back on a tricky Thumba pitch against Kerala, he almost won it single-handedly for Punjab until Jalaj Saxena's seven-wicket haul in the second innings overshadowed his heroics. Kaul bagged eight wickets on his return, including a fifer, and contributed 25 and 22 runs in both innings with the bat.
Kaul told TOI: "Both teams played a competitive cricket. Had we applied ourselves even slightly better, it was our match definitely. But that's cricket. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose."
Against Gujarat, he took four wickets in the first innings on the opening day.
More painful than injury
In the Ranji Trophy opener against Rajasthan, Kaul dived to save a boundary and hurt his lower abdomen, which forced him to sit out three matches. He remained injury-free for seven years before that, a sort of fitness record any fast bowler will want.
Kaul said with a smile: "After that dive, I bowled a spell of five overs, which aggravated the injury. Rehabilitation and recovery were more difficult, irritating phases, when you sit idle on the couch, watching your team grind in the middle. The good part is family time. During rehabilitation, I also attended my office (the State Bank of India) and was overwhelmed to get the love, care, and encouragement of colleagues."
All the tricks
Kaul is one of the few bowlers in domestic cricket with every weapon in the armoury. He can bowl in any condition. He has developed an incoming delivery to mix with his natural outswing. Even on flat surfaces, he hits the deck consistently.
A regular for Sunrisers Hyderabad in Indian Premier League (IPL), Siddharth has developed a knuckle ball with the help of fellow Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Last year, Kaul spent 15 days with Zaheer Khan to work on yorker, slower one, and a couple of other variations. "A competitive nature makes me love challenges," he said. "When I go home in the evening and look myself in the mirror, I want to say: 'Yes, I gave it everything. My father told me that learning never stops. I want to keep growing as a cricketer."
Blue dream
For India, Siddharth Kaul has played three one-dayers and T20s each, and is eager to return to the national side. But he knows that it's tough to break into the world's top-ranked bowling side. Kaul said: "I have played with all of them, so to see them play well drives you to work harder."
With T20 World Cup due later this year, Kaul would love to be on that flight to Australia. But he says: "My first task is to help Punjab win Ranji Trophy." Wicketless in the ODIs and with four scalps in the T20Is, the medium pacer longs for a fair run. In his opinion: "Playing international cricket in patches doesn't help rhythm bowlers, who need five or six matches to come into their element. You can't perform with a sword hanging over your neck. The fear that this could be your last match gets to you."
To U-19 team
No one can forget the celebratory slide of Siddharth Kaul when he sent the off-stump of South African wicketkeeper batsmen Bradley Barnes cartwheeling in the Under-19 World Cup final at Kuala Lumpur in 2008. India are favourites to win again. Kaul's advice to the new squad: "Enjoy the beautiful journey. This is just the beginning, Don't make it a question of life and death. Go out and express yourself."
Kaul earned an India cap after 10 years in the domestic circuit, so he knows a bit about life after the Under-19 World Cup. He said: "When you are young, you do stupid things. After the under-19 triumph, I was confident of breaking into the senior side but, soon, realised it wasn't a cakewalk. It took me 10 years to get there."