The boy has grown into a man

FAITH, IT is said, gives one the courage to face the present with confidence and the future with expectancy. Even as one sits down to analyse the remarkable progress made by young left-hander Yuveraj Singh, one cannot help but wonder how one's life changes in a matter of 10 months.

It was in December last year, when he came down to Chennai with the North Zone side for the Ghulam Ahmed Trophy under-19 tournament, that he said during a chat that it was his father's dream that he play for the country (for a length of time) and that he was striving to realise it. His sire Yograj Singh, a medium fast bowler, had represented India in a solo Test and five limited over internationals.

That the youngster possessed a mature head and clarity of thought was evident in his reply to the query whether he felt the pressure syndrome that inhibits most children who pursue the sport which their fathers had excelled in.

``If you look at it as pressure then it is a burden, but if you look at it as a game it is a challenge for you,'' said Yuveraj, all of 18 years then.

Well, Chennai is proving to be lucky for the Chandigarh lad, for it was here that the National Junior Selection Committee picked him for the Youth (under-19) World Cup in Sri Lanka, and it was in the southern metropolis that Chandu Borde and his men chose him for the ICC mini World Cup in Nairobi.

And what a start Yuveraj gave his international career, continuing the form that fetched him the Man of the Series award in the Youth World Cup in January. The young man carried India past world champion Australia at the Nairobi Gymkhana to be rightfully adjudged the Man of the Match for his sensational 84 followed by some astounding fielding display.

Confucius' words that `A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials' could in a large sense be used to describe Yuveraj's initiation into the `big league'. Making one's international debut in the limited overs version is one thing, but then, making it against the world champion, that too in a knockout event of this magnitude, is quite another matter. Theoritically, it could be his second game but then Yuveraj didn't get to bat in the tournament opener, against the host. The boy has grown into a man, he has made the transition from junior cricket to the senior level.

And when he got of the mark with a straight driven boundary off medium-pacer Ian Harvey, one's mind went back to how he once described his batting. ``I enjoy playing my shots and am confident about it. If the first ball I face is a loose one, I'll punish it.'' Well, his first three scoring shots were boundaries. But it was the on-drive of Glenn McGrath, which took him to his half-century, which was the pick.

Yuveraj also has the ability to adjust to situations, as he displayed in that match-winning knock. Remember, he walked in when the side was 90 for three. In fact, it was one such innings that he played against the Kiwis in the Youth World Cup encounter at Galle.

The season that went by saw `Yuve', as he is known to friends, emerge as the most promising one from the junior crop. But the knock that had the country's cricket circles sit up and take notice was the triple hundred, 358 to be precise, for Punjab against Bihar in the final of the Cooch Behar Trophy under-19 tournament in Jamshedpur. He had scored 122 against Madhya Pradesh in the semifinal.

His huge appetite for runs, and big scores at that, is evident from the fact that he has four double hundreds in the junior level. He made his first class debut as a 16-year-old in 1997-98, and cracked his maiden Ranji century last season in what was only his fourth game.

By far the hardest striker of the ball after Sachin Tendulkar in the country, `Yuve' can clear distances of 110 yards with ease. We saw this during the Youth World Cup where he decimated Australia, making 58 in 25 deliveries with five sixes and an equal number of boundaries.

The stint at the National Cricket Academy (first batch) has seen him grow more focused. There is a glint in the eyes now. He has tightened his technique, his defence is far more solid, his front foot play sound, and there is a touch of balance about it.

His heroes are Saeed Anwar, Tendulkar and Brian Lara. ``I've got video clippings of Anwar's world record limited overs innings at Chennai and knocks of Tendulkar and Lara. I watch them, more so when I think I'm not batting well and feel that I need to work on my attitude,'' he once told us.

Though he enjoys bowling left-arm spin, Yuve, a good fielder, looks at it as an avenue to compensate, in the event of his failing with the bat.

For papa Yograj, the hours that he spent chucking water-soaked tennis balls at his young boy on the concrete wicket back home, while telling him that international cricket is all about playing fast bowling, hasn't been wasted. The boy has lived up to it, he faces the present with confidence and the future with expectancy.

SANJAY RAJAN

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