Gurdaspur’s five shining stars on cricketing firmament

In Gurdaspur’s cricketing circles, they are called the magnificent five. These cricketers move around the field brimming with youthful exuberance, all set to tackle the best in domestic and international cricket. They know that only self-belief, hard work, discipline and dedication will earn them success. And they are working hard to attain it.

Vaibhav Saini is an off spinner whose ability to flight the ball and get turn even from the most docile pitches has come in for praise even from top international cricketers. In 2023, he was called by the BCCI to Mohali as a net-bowler against the mighty Australians. Middle order batter Steve Smith, whose array of strokes is dazzling to say the least, was beaten in the air for three successive times by Saini. On the fourth time, Saini bowled a flighted delivery and bowled Smith as he went on the front foot to kill the spin. The ball disturbed the stumps as it found its way between Smith's bat and pad. A few words of wisdom followed from the Australian great and these were lapped up by the Gurdaspur lad.

Ten years ago, Vaibhav learnt how difficult life could become when he lost his father. His mother, Shub Lata, got a job in the Railways in place of her husband and now books tickets at the Gurdaspur railway station. These days, Vaibhav is playing league cricket in Canada where he has given a series of fairly good performances. He is in the process of shifting to Canada permanently. “I want to play for Canada. In India, the chances of making it to the national team, in any format of the game, are bleak. The competition is too tough,” he says. He is all praise for his coach Rakesh Marshal and says it is his tutor who rectified several lacunae in his technique following which he has become a “better all-rounder than before”.

Cricketers from Gurdaspur rarely make it to the Vizzy trophy, the battle for supremacy in inter-university cricket. However, Vaibhav has turned out to be an exception and his cricketing bio-data has become all the more impressive after his exploits in the tournament a few years ago. “You do not need to play every ball, but every ball needs your judgement,” he says. He definitely has the cricketing brains to reach the top.

Batter Dilpreet Singh is another protégé of coach Marshal who has made it big in Canada. He studied in Gurdaspur, Batala and Dhariwal. He took his first steps in cricket in the coaching centre run by Marshal at the government college grounds. He has already represented Canada in the T20 World Cup tournament held in the US and the West Indies in 2023. He played well in the few matches in which he got a chance in the league phase.

Australian opener David Warner has had a special word of praise for Dilpreet whenever the two have met in the Canadian league. The Aussie has been vocal in his praise for the manner in which Dilpreet uses his feet against the turning ball. So much so, Warner has even extended an invitation to the Gurdaspur cricketer to play in the Australian league. He visits India depending upon his cricket itinerary and whenever he is here he can be seen practising at Marshal’s centre.

Aditya Marshal is a right arm medium pacer who is known to deceive the best of batsmen with his late swinging yorkers. He is a prominent player in the Punjab Premier League (PPL) where he has impressed many with his decent line and length. His father and coach Marshal is working hard to ensure he swings the ball both ways. In cricketing terms, this is a herculean task, but both father and son are giving it all to make it a reality. This is bound to help Aditya when he balls on flat wickets where swing matters more than speed. Aditya says he will be a complete bowler once he masters reverse swinging yorkers. Adiya, who is a little green behind the ears as far as his experience in cricket is concerned, should know that the exponents of this art — Imran Khan, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram — hard to toil hard for years to perfect this type of yorker. All the best to him.

Parth Kalia, who has also bowled in the nets against the Australians in Mohali, is slowly becoming one of the best-off spinners this area has produced. He is trying to decipher the intricacies of the ‘doosra’, a ball which instead of turning into the batsman goes straight. Such balls are wicket taking deliveries. Off spinners Mulritharan, Harbhajan Singh and Saqlain Mushtaq have been exponents of this bowling weapon. Parth knows that only hard work and dedication can help him in mastering the ‘doosra’. Parth must know that Saqlain Mushtaq used to bowl for hours and hours at a single wicket in an attempt to wrest control over the ‘doosra’. The Gurdaspur spinner says he is ready to put in that kind of hard work.

Arjun Randhawa, still in his teens, is a medium pacer who bowls at a full length and with a lot of guile. He has already attended a Ranji preparatory camp for Punjab. The real tests are yet to come for this promising youngster but he is trying. “I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something or the other. But what is not acceptable to me is not trying,” he says.