Small-town boy Harpreet ready for big role in World Cup

With an empty water bottle in hand and a drained look on his face,all-rounder Harpreet Singh walks towards the team bus after a long and tiring net session on the eve of the under-19 World Cup game against England....

With an empty water bottle in hand and a drained look on his face,all-rounder Harpreet Singh walks towards the team bus after a long and tiring net session on the eve of the under-19 World Cup game against England which might be a good thing,as in the two matches the team have played so far,against minnows Afghanistan and Hong Kong,they havent quite broken sweat. With the weeding process done with,a contest of equals is about to kick off.

Harpreet,a middle-order batsman and late-overs specialist paceman,is aware that the road ahead is tough. In his first television appearance in India blues,he put in a flawless performance with the ball. He wasnt among wickets but his spell of 9-0-17-0 against Afghanistan showed those at Lincoln Park that he could effectively swing the ball both ways.

With the top-order batsmen helping India reach their targets in both matches,he hasnt had a chance yet to show off his skills with the bat. Considering my position in the batting and bowling line-ups,I know that I get into the thick of things only in crunch situations. The actual tournament starts now and I have to deliver, he says,adding that New Zealand with its open spaces and sparsely populated landscape reminds him of home.

Harpreet was born in Dalli Rajhara,a small town of 60,000 on the outskirts of Bhilai known for its tranquillity.

However,there is a hint of anxiety on his face as well,and he says that he is aware that a long and hard journey has brought him to the moment of truth.

Harpreet spent his wonder years at the lush green steel plant cricket ground with cricket coach Suresh Reddy. Though he was a perpetual presence at the ground,he was ultimately just another kid in whites. But as his father Harpal says,things have changed now. After Harpreet was on television,people who dont even know us get instant recall on seeing him. Friends tell me how they have met people who say Oh,is he the same Sikh boy who we used to see at our ground?

Since his town hosted just one All-India cricket tournament every year,Harpreet knew at an early age that he had to move out. The facilities were very good but I moved to Madhya Pradesh as I wanted to play top level cricket, he says.

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His father a small-time textile trader,the young cricketer had to face several hardships during his career. Early on,in fact,Harpreet found himself at the crossroads. When the Indian Cricket League started my son got a good offer. The money would have been useful and when he turned it down,I thought he had missed his chance. In hindsight,he was right. Harpreet didnt play cricket for money,he just wanted to wear an India shirt. Harpreet is now with the Kolkata Knight Riders IPL squad.

On the field,Harpreet is among the quietest in this squad full of pranksters. But ask his team mates to endorse this assumption and they break into a smile. You havent heard the way in which he mimics Sunny Deol. Once you see that you will change your opinion, one of them says.