Stuck at home, staring at his fish in a bowl to deal with the restlessness, Deshpande(The Nepal spinner) is aware that the resumption of cricket isn't a wait for Godot. It will happen eventually. But the absolute lack of clarity over when IPL 2020 will commence has put a brief pause to the ambitions of several first and second timers in the tournament.
He was bought by Delhi Capitals for INR of 20 lakh. While you might consider it to be good money for a young domestic player who's still making his way up the ranks, it's not really the biggest concern for him.It's more the missing out on an opportunity to show his talent on the IPL stage that he's excited about.
Unlike in the case of Sanjay Yadav, son of a daily-wage earner, who had shifted base from Tamil Nadu to Meghalaya to enhance his cricketing prospects last. The all-rounder bagged nine wickets in his maiden first-class innings, followed it with an eight-fer and finished with 55 wickets in 9 games. In between, he also scored an unbeaten double century.
He was sold for worth INR 20 lakh to Sunrisers Hyderabad. Despite having plied his trade for a season in the TNPL, the IPL contract was going to be the big windfall with which he was planning to upgrade the facilities at the academy he trains at, in Hosur. Yadav also had plans to save some of it to buy a house for his family, who now stay in a rented space.
Virat Singh, was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 1.9 Crore, had plans of buying a plot of land, renovating his current house and passing on the rest of the savings to his father.
Shahbaz Ahmed, the left-arm spinning all-rounder was hoping to upgrade his 'lifestyle' and add better facilities in his rented apartment in Kolkata.
"I've trained players since their childhood, I still continue to use it extensively. Getting more bowling machines, better nets, etc. would help the others training there as well," Sai Kishore says.
The money aside, IPL also is the stage that propels young Indian cricketers into the spotlight and often as a result into national recognition. It's also a two-month period where they get to rub shoulders and share dressing-rooms with the who's who of international cricket. Not having that opportunity is also a disruption not just in their immediate schedule but also the progression chart in their careers.
Deshpande has performed fairly well in domestic cricket over the last four seasons, progressed to the India A setup last year and was mentally ready to play his maiden IPL. Despite his impressive performances over the years, he has failed the attention of the franchises.
A spate of injuries did play their part, but it also didn't help that he turned down Kings XI Punjab's invitation for trials ahead of the 2019 auction. But now as a 24-year-old, in a team that isn't stacked with too many big-name Indian pacers, he stood with his finest opportunity to showcase his pace, his yorkers, and the newly-worked back-of-the-hand slower ball.
It's a similar case for Jammu & Kashmir's big-hitter Abdul Samad and Jharkhand batsman Virat Singh - both of whom stood a chance of filling in a possible space in Sunrisers Hyderabad's middle order. Samad is confident that the IPL suspension will not impact his career and he will retain that form but Shahbaz Ahmed looks at it differently. "You don't know if you will be in the kind of form that you were in when you were picked," he says. "Maybe by the time the IPL is played, I may lose my rhythm. As a junior player, such opportunities don't come easily."
In Bangalore, Joshi, the 32-year-old all-rounder, had different ambitions. One of the finds of the Karnataka Premier League, he was picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018 but didn't get a game. This year, Rajasthan Royals snapped him up as their lone frontline off-spinner. "In the last few years, finding a place in the Karnataka side has become very competitive," he says. "So far, I was getting selected only in the T20 side because my fitness was an issue. I worked towards that and continue to follow the training program given to us by the Rajasthan Royals strength and conditioning coach. I was hoping that if I did well in IPL this year, I would get selected in the other formats as well."
There is an upside for some too, however. The delay has allowed Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was prolific during the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year and scored a double-hundred in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, to go slow on his shoulder rehabilitation. Had the tournament started as per schedule, he would've had to hurry up on his recovery.
For Sai Kishore, who spent a few days in the CSK camp, the break has allowed him to hone his skills. "After bowling to the likes of Rayudu, Vijay, Raina and Dhoni - all of whom are good players of spin, you become more confident of your skills. This break has given me time to hone it, like an exam that has been delayed by three months," he says. "I have a basic facility to practice my bowling on my terrace."
Like with sportspeople around the world, the IPL hopefuls too have been finding their own ways of staying fit amidst the lockdown. In Deshpande's case, the bigger challenge is not the workouts but the need to not get worked up in this endless wait.
"I realise that this time can be a little frustrating, so I'm making sure I don't lose my cool. I'm watering plants, meditating, keeping myself engaged. I was preparing for this tournament, not only in training and practice but also mentally readying myself for it. Since I can't practice bowling anywhere, I have to make sure whenever normal life resumes I don't have to catch up too much."
Sai Kishore though is prepared to see the bigger picture and perhaps puts their wait into perspective when he says: "It is disappointing but in the current situation, the lives that we're living - of safety and with food on our plates - is a life of luxury. We cannot be complaining, it's time we look beyond just ourselves."
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