Harmeet Singh 19
TURNING THE TIDE
Left- arm orthodox spinner
While Jasbir Singh, his father, managed a business, Paramjeet Kaur, his mother, took him every day from Malad to Shivaji Park Gymkhana in Dadar, Mumbai, where he has played since he was nine. Among his coaches was legendary left- arm spinner Padmakar Shivalkar, who took 589 first- class wickets while Bishan Singh Bedi won plaudits with the national side.
While most current spinners bowl flatter trajectories to contain batsmen in ODIs, Harmeet uses old- world methods of flight and loop as weapons. That led to comparisons with Bedi: The late Dilip Sardesai, who watched Harmeet play as a young boy, was among the first to do so. Ian Chappell then beat the same drum during the Under- 19 World Cup.
His attacking style notwithstanding, Harmeet finished with an outstanding economy rate of 3.02 for the competition. Apart from his tidy bowling, his World Cup was notable for the unbeaten 34- ball 13 that took India to victory against Pakistan in the quarter- final. He kept Sandeep Sharma, the No. 11 batsman, calm and struck the winning runs over midwicket once the field came in.
Despite taking 17 first- class wickets in his first three games, Harmeet didn’t get a Ranji game for Mumbai last season. He had to rest content with captaining Mumbai in the Cooch Behar Under- 19 Trophy.