Another Singh who would be King of Spin

MUMBAI: Harmeet Singh's rise to first-class cricket at a raw age reminds one of Ravi Shastri.
In 1981 Shastri was preferred to bowlers like Ghulam Shaikh and Deepan Bhatt who were in the u-19 ranks. And at international level above Paddy Shivalkar, Dhiraj Parsana, Rajinder Goel and Rajinder Singh Hans.
In Mumbai Harmeet had before him a host of left-armer challengers: Gaurav Jathar his colleague at the Shivaji Park Academy, Pratik Manjrekar and Dhaval Parab in the u-22 besides Iqbal Abdulla who got to bowl after Harmeet against Himachal but got his wicket nevertheless.Healthy competition there.
He is another from the new stable of Swami Vivekanand School where coach Dinesh Lad has unearthed talent like Rohit Sharma and co. In fact Harmeet's performances for this school brought him into prominence. A plus point was his batting which must have counted. Also that his coach Paddy Shivalkar is among the selectors.
At a young age Tata's snapped him up for the Times Shield and he bowled alongside Ramesh Powar last year before joining Air India. Harmeet scored 53 at No. 9 for Air India against BPCL last month.
At a camp at the BKC indoor nets last year India and Karnataka left-arm spinner Raghuram Bhat had told Harmeet a thing or two. Bhat had been impressed by the youngster and wanted him to have the loop.
This loop is what selector Shivalkar has been looking for all the time during the trial matches. Fellow selector Kiran Mokashi was also known for his flight. And by their picking Harmeet, Shivalkar and his colleagues obviously want someone who will beat the batsmen in the air, a lost art in the Bhajji era.
Those who watched Harmeet on Tuesday thought he was impressive because he could turn the ball. Both his wickets were traditional spinner's wickets: one stumped giving the charge, in local parlance tabela sodun gela (left the stable) and the other a catch at slip. An old-timer said Harmeet was still unbalance with the weight more on the right side and could improve 70 per cent.
One can only hope this Singh will not only be different but be a king of spin like Bishen Singh and Maninder Singh before him.