Many great cricketing feuds are a part of the beautiful games history and once seen as an aberration,sledging has played its part in shaping the career of Gaurav Jangra,a 20-year-old cricketer from the outskirts of Delhi. Once seen as an opening bowler,Jangra feared facing the cricket ball as a batsman. But all that changed two years ago during a Delhi-Karnataka U-19 match. As he walked in to bat at eight-down,with 170 on board,the tailender was greeted to the crease with a bouncer crashing into his helmet. As he gathered himself to his feet,a few words were further directed at his incapability with the bat. Things have never been the same after the incident. Its all in the mind and the sledging sparked off something inside me, he says,adding,Though I channelled my anger on the ball rather than the bowler,I did target him specifically to score my first fifty. It was not a one-off performance though as Jhangra followed up the fifty with 48 crucial runs in the second innings and another half-century in the next game against Vidharba u-19. The half-century in the following match proved that my batting wasnt just a fluke. I wanted to take it more seriously than my bowling, says the right-hander. Jangra could not afford a batting coach and his first steps were modelled on fellow cricketers from college and of course,television. I used to watch fellow players from close quarters. This gave me a deeper understanding. Television,too,played a big role. I learnt from almost everything at hand,including coach Tarak Sinha from Sonnet Cricket Club, says Jangra. The fairytale continued as Jangra found his name in the Delhi u-22 team,as a batsman,and this has given him a free hand at bowling. When the ball gets old,I even bowl off-spinners regularly, says the batting all-rounder about the variations he tries with the ball. With the Delhi-A team selections coming up in a few months time,Jhangra helped himself to catch the selectors attention by scoring a powerful 69-ball 86 for Malik Sports on Tuesday at the St Stephens ground against RP Cricket Academy in the GG Dutt memorial cricket tournament. The match was tied and a bowl-out decided the outcome in RP Academys favour. Having sat out the second innings due to an injury picked up during his knock,Jangra feels there will be many more chances to impress the selectors. I just wish that I was fit enough to bowl.. The irony in his words was eminent. RPA win in bowl-outMalik Sports and Ram Pal Cricket Academy recorded the first tie,and bowl-out,of the Goswami Ganesh Dutt memorial cricket tournament at the St Stephens ground on Tuesday. RP Academys won the bowl-out by 2 wickets to 0. Earlier,Gaurav Jangra made 86 as Malik Sports finished on 266 for the loss of eight wickets. In reply,RP Academy scored 129 runs in 17 overs. Requiring three runs of the last ball,Puneet Mehra and Sandeep Tyagi managed to scamper a quick double to tie the game. Brief Scores: Malik Sports 266 for 8 in 40 overs (Gaurav Jangra 86; Arshad Masih 4/54); RP Academy 266 for 4 in 40 overs (Surinder Dyama 111; Rajiv Rawat 1/39)
