IPL 2016: Return of frog-in-a-blender action

The 20-year-old was denied his first IPL wicket after marginally over-stepping the line after clean bowling Steve Smith in Pune. On Sunday, though, the Gujarat Lions joker-in-the-pack starred with the ball with three high-profile scalps against Kings XI Punjab at Rajkot.

Adams had already heard about Kaushik before he and the world laid their eyes on the scrawny mystery spinner. And for now, he expects the youngster to have a similarly eye-catching impact like he did back in the mid-90s against a completely befuddled English batting line-up. “Like me he is using his uniqueness and turned it into a positive. It has been about a decade since I last played and there will be lots of players out there that would have never seen it before,” he tells The Indian Express.

Similar, but not the same

But Adams acknowledges the fact that though similar in style, there are differences in their actions. Unlike Adams, Kaushik doesn’t have a jump before he dives, let’s say, into the blender. As a result — not to forget him being much taller than Adams — he looks rather clumsy in his approach and lacks the smoothness that Adams possessed. At one point just before the point of delivery, Kaushik in fact looks like he’s drying his back with a towel. “He hasn’t got much of a jump before the action. Key for me was also making sure my body was in good alignment even though my head went down,” explains Adams.

Not a pretender

Ironically, according to those around him, the comparisons with Adams have always left Kaushik bemused. For, he’s always claimed to be an original and not a pretender.

“Obviously the first question everyone asks is about the action. But he always tells people that he hasn’t modelled his action on anyone else. He’s simply Shivil Kaushik, and whatever he does is his own style,” says BK Ravi, secretary at Mount Joy Cricket Club, who Kaushik has represented for the last five years. It’s difficult though to not compare the two, considering even Adams sees the likeliness. Ravi also talks about how his ward would get ridiculed for his action in his early days, much like Adams used to be during his younger days.

“Then guys would get bowled or caught-behind off the first or second delivery and then go, ‘what does this guy bowl? Don’t even know where the ball is coming from?’ And some would call it unfair,” he recalls.

Oddity, advantage

Being an oddity does have its advantages in the IPL. Kaushik was bought at his base price of Rs 10 lakh by the Lions after he had attended the trials for a number of other franchises. To add to his success with the Hubli Tigers in the KPL, he also won the Spin Stars Contest which was held by Anil Kumble’s company last January. But Kaushik’s not the first or the last oddball cricketer with no domestic cricket experience to make a sudden impact in the IPL. From Dinesh Salunke and Kamran Khan to even KC Cariappa, who was in the opposition with Kings XI on Sunday and was among the costliest buys last year in the auction, there have been those who have made a big splash in their early days and then faded away with equal rapidity. These guys never played first-class cricket, and presently even Kaushik despite his impressive showing is yet to attract attention from the Karnataka state team.

Ravi in fact reveals that his young trump-card wasn’t even originally supposed to be part of the IPL auction. “Only guys who have played for the state, at least at the junior level are given a chance to be part of the IPL auction. But one look at Kaushik and his performances in KPL especially were enough to convince (KSCA secretary) Brijesh (Patel) to give him a shot,” he explains.

Already, Kaushik has also made a mark for his show of aggression on the field, especially his overly expressive responses to both success and failure on the field. Ravi has seen all of it of course. “He’s a jovial and fun-loving character off the field but turns into this ultra-aggressive guy once he crosses the ropes. He used to suffer from some facial nerves issue a while back. It’s gotten better now,” says Ravi.

Kaushik needs to be aware that the exceptionality of his action will hold him in good stead only for a limited period. Adams knows all about it. His career never quite took off the way it was expected to, and Gogga has remained relevant more for being the frog in the blender than for his exploits on the field. And he says it best when he says:

“Being mysterious is always a positive, the fact that batsman are more worried about the action than watching the ball was an advantage for me. The mystery will wear off and he will need to have plans and understand the best way to take wickets with what he has got.”