Mind it, its Gony not Dhoni

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With no T20 experience in his bag, Manpreet Gony has defied odds by becoming the best bowler in a team with the likes of Ntini, Murali, Morkel and Oram.

A small town lad again rises up to the occasion. After the triumphant T20 World Cup campaign, skipper MS Dhoni had openly avowed the flair of small town players. Now even in the IPL, it seems that talents from the lesser known parts of the country are here to make the difference.

The small bracket town lying on the road between Chandigarh and Anandpur Sahib has come up with a gem in the making. Roopnagar as it is known will soon become famous for having the distinction of giving the Indian Premier League a player called Manpreet Gony.

His initial fame to claim of course was his rhyming surname to Indian cricket’s blue-eyed boy MS Dhoni. Co-incidentally he also got to play for Chennai Superkings led by the Indian skipper himself. To be honest no one knew of Manpreet Gony’s existence till the IPL came.

Gony’s fate changed after Chennai Superkings all-rounder Sudeep Tyagi got injured. He was inducted in the side after more than a good back up by national selector Bhupinder Singh. His domestic figures show 13 wickets in 5 first-class games at an economy rate of 3.5 and 122 runs in seven innings.

Superkings chief selector VB Chandrashekhar had his faith intact in the six-feet four inches tall bowler. The Punjab fast bowler was the only bright spot in the dismal performance of the North Zone team in the recent Deodhar Trophy being the highest wicket taker. Superkings, therefore, in no time drafted Manpreet in their squad in spite of his nil experience in T20 cricket.

Gony repaid the faith that the Superkings management had in him. With a side boasting of names like Muralitharan, Ntini, Oram, Morkel and of course Dhoni, Gony stood out with his competence with both bat and ball. Half the way in IPL season, Gony is the best bowler in his team with ten wickets in eight matches.

Drafted in the side as an all-rounder, his batting prowess was not seen until the last match against Delhi Daredevils. In an edge-of-the-seat thriller, Gony blasted the required 15 runs in the last over clinching a close and much needed victory for his side. Shoaib Malik bore the brunt of this burly all-rounder’s late onslaught.

As of now IPL is half way through and Gony is the third-highest wicket taker in the tournament. Also, it would be too early to call him a star material.

Even BCCI, chairman of selectors, Dilip Vengsarkar felt that a player cannot be judged on his T20 performance. Logically, it is true, citing the F50 and longer version of the game are totally a different ball game.

But what is heartening to see is the surfacing of new talent in the star-packed league. It has given a chance not to only a Gony but many other players too. It has given them recognition. Who knew a Yogesh Takawale before he snapped 4 dismissals while keeping for the Mumbai Indians against Rajasthan Royals.

Even Goan opener Swapnil Asnodkar was an alien to any cricket follower. His claim to fame was when he blazed 34-balls 60 runs for the Shane Warne inspired Rajasthan Royals against the Kolkata Knightriders. His team-mate Ravindra Jadeja has also been rated as a star material by Shane Warne.

If the grapevines are to be believed about top IPL players earning more than Rs61 crores in the coming years, don’t discount the rates that a Gony or an Asnodkar would command next season.

Finally, all of them have become more of a commodity than skilled players. Or let’s be reasonable saying their skills are being valued, probably at exorbitant rates.

s_gautam@dnaindia.net