The move to Bengal from Sahaspur in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, in order to pursue a career in cricket eventually worked wonders for Mohammed Shami. Will young Ravi Kumar, also from Uttar Pradesh, be able to emulate the senior Team India pacer?
Obviously, time will answer that. But at present, the 18-year-old left-arm quick is certainly one of the go-to bowlers in the India U-19 team at the ongoing U-19 World Cup in the Caribbean.
No wonder it was Ravi’s excellent first spell that laid the foundation for India’s five-wicket victory in the quarter final versus Bangladesh at Coolidge (in Antigua) on Saturday.
He finished with figures of 3/14 as India bundled Bangladesh out for a paltry 111. Thanks to Ravi and the other bowlers, there wasn’t much work left to do for India’s batters.
For sure, it won’t be too easy for Ravi when India meet Australia in the semi-final on Wednesday.
The Aussies certainly have a stronger batting line-up, but things may well get difficult for them if Ravi gets the ball to dart in to their right-hand batters or moves it away from the left-handed ones.
The ball with which he got rid of Bangladesh opener Mahfijul Islam swung in to rattle the stumps. It was, as they say, a peach of a delivery. Contrast that with Ravi’s third wicket, one which he picked up with late swing. He forced left-hander Prantik Nawrose Nabil to edge it to first slip.
“Ravi can swing it both ways, but darting the ball back is his main weapon,” Bengal U-19 head coach and former national selector Devang Gandhi told The Telegraph on Sunday.
“ He’s tall and pretty sharp in the first place and also very hardworking. So I’m not surprised at all with his success,” Devang said.
There’s a fair possibility of Ravi’s selection in the Bengal squad for the Ranji Trophy, which is likely to begin in the second or third week of February.
Surprisingly, he wasn’t selected in the squad for the tri-series (featuring India U-19 A, India U-19 B and Bangladesh U-19) that was held at Eden Gardens last December. He was drafted in only when another player was ruled out with injury.
Hailing from Aligarh, Ravi shifted to Calcutta and has played for Howrah Union and Ballygunge United in CAB (Cricket Association of Bengal) club cricket. “He has been here for around three-four years and stays at a Dum Dum mess.
“The plus point is, he’s a very obedient guy, sincere and dedicated towards his goal. Besides, he gets necessary support from his family, particularly his father (Rajendra Singh) who is in the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) in Odisha,” Bengal U-19 assistant coach Jayanta Ghosh Dastidar said.
Fitter, stronger
When Ravi and the rest of the cricketers had assembled for the Bengal U-19 camp in August last year, he was a little weak physically. “We worked a lot on his fitness and strength, and within one month, he improved significantly,” Devang recalled.
“He put on a lot of muscle weight. His pace too had increased, though we didn’t have to tweak his action.”
During that phase, Ravi focused mainly on basic functional movement such as squats, deadlifts, lunges, upper-body pushing, pulling, hinge pattern and twisting that made him fitter and stronger.
He is now reaping the harvest of all that hard work.
