Punjab batting’s Mr Precious

Chandigarh: At a practice session of the Punjab team, just before the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, pacers Siddarth Kaul, Barinder Sran, Sandeep Sharma and Manpreet Gony (all premier fast bowlers of the state team) were being taken to the cleaners by 19-year-old batsman Anmolpreet Singh at the IS Bindra PCA Stadium, Mohali. And, that too effortlessly.
It always seemed that the Patiala batsman had that split second extra, while playing the quicks and his foot movement was always precise.That kind of effortless batting brought Anmolpreet three centuries in his debut Ranji Trophy season, including two double tons. The youngster drew praise from every quarter for his exceptional strokeplay.
Compliments were in no shortage at the practice session too. As Anmolpreet was batting, Punjab coach Ajay Ratra shouted “Anmol last over”; and the young batsman like a good student came back so that others can also have their share of practice.
“Sare run akele maarne ka irada tha kya (You were batting as if you wanted to score all the runs by yourself),” Ratra said jokingly. In reply, Anmolpreet just gave a nod and went on to complete his stretching exercises.
“There is a kind of perfection in his batting, every shot he plays is exquisite and has timing written all over it,” reflected Ratra.
Although Punjab failed to qualify for the knockouts in the Ranji Trophy this season, one of the positives for the team was Anmolpreet. The youngster mustered 753 runs at a Bradmenesque average of 125.50, and his strike-rate of 81.93 was even more impressive.
He scored his first century (113) against Goa, and then followed it with a double-century against Chhattisgarh. Anmolpreet hit 267 off just 262 deliveries. He finished the season with another double ton (252), this time against the Services.
But the journey from being a promising youngster to cementing his place in Punjab’s Ranji team has had its share of ups and downs.
After scoring a fifty in the season opener against Himachal Pradesh, the youngster was asked to make way for Yuvraj Singh and play in the U-23 Col CK Nayudu Trophy. The demotion didn’t disappoint him as he hit a double hundred (202) against Himachal Pradesh’s U-23 team at the Dhruv Pandove Stadium in Patiala. That knock got him a quick recall to the Ranji squad.
Once back, Anmol made the No. 4 spot his own. In the next five innings, he had scores of 113, 267, 12, 40 and 252 not out.
Getting an axe, even after performing well, can deter anyone’s spirits. Not Anmolpreet’s though. “I wasn’t frustrated at all,” he said. “I just wanted to make every opportunity count. I realised that I have to score in every match and I have to put in that extra effort in every game. In such a situation one has to be mentally tough.”
Impact of Rahul Dravid
India’s U-19 team coach Rahul Dravid has had a massive impact on Anmolpreet’s batting, especially how he approaches an innings now.
“Earlier, I used to be a bit flashy and threw away my wicket if things didn’t go my way. But Rahul sir taught me how to construct a big innings. Now, my batting is dictated by the match situation. I am still a very positive batsman and like to dominate the bowlers, but there is no pre-meditated shots in my dictionary now,” stated Anmolpreet, who idolises Indian captain Virat Kohli.
“The best thing about Rahul sir is that he never changed our technique in a huge way. There was just a bit of tinkering here and there. He used to say that if you are mentally tough and your intent is positive, then you will score runs on any pitch and in any condition. He told us that if a batsmen has scored fifty, then he needs to convert it to 100 and then to 200. After the day’s play, every player should analyse his game for at least 10 minutes,” he added.
Junior days
Since his junior days, Anmolpreet is known to spend hours in the middle. He was awarded the MA Chidambaram Trophy for BCCI’s U-19 player of the year for 2014-15 where he amassed 1154 runs from nine Cooch Behar Trophy matches. He hit five hundreds during his breakthrough season which included a triple hundred and a double hundred.
Anmolpreet had also bagged the MA Chidambaram Trophy for the best U-19 cricketer in 2015.
“I love scoring big hundreds. I have represented Punjab in every age-group. I want to play forIndia and for that I have to keep scoring runs and had to make every opportunity count.
What next?
The 19-year-old lad from Patiala wants to play in the Indian Premiere League and want to share the dressing rooms with the greats of cricket.
“Mu next target is to get a IPL contract because it is a great platform for the players to showcase their talents. For that I have to carry on my form in the upcoming domestic T-20 tournament,” said Anmolpreet.
When asked if he had any preferred choice the youngster said “No, I don’t have a preferred option I am ready to play for any franchise.”