More than just namesake

Another Balwinder Singh Sandhu takes a fiver on debut at Wankhede

It’s one of those tales whose impact depends on which account you get to hear. The junior Balwinder Singh Sandhu,for one,claims to have been too young when it occurred and finds it tough to recollect it now. The senior one,the former India fast bowler and 1983 World Cup winner,however,remembers it quite precisely.

It was at the RCF ground many years ago,and I was really impressed with this young Sikh boys action. So I asked him for his name,and when he said Balwinder Singh Sandhu,I was quite shocked, he recalls. Sandhus next reaction,however,was of annoyance,he adds,as he believed that the youngster was pulling a fast one on him.

And I almost lost it when he said,his friends called him Ballu,which is my nickname too. It took a few of his teammates to finally convince me that we did indeed share identical names, says Sandhu now.

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The senior Ballu couldnt make it to the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday. What it meant was he missed out on witnessing his name being thrust back into the cricketing limelight,with his namesake ending up with a five-wicket haul in his first-ever first-class outing.

Taking the new-ball,the 24-year-old right-arm pacer managed to generate prodigious swing in both directions,something the senior Sandhu famously did during his playing days. The debutant finished with figures of 5 for 66 and was chiefly responsible for handing the hosts an early advantage with the visitors being bowled out for 226 in their first innings.

And post-Wednesday,the two Sandhus,apart from their names,now also share an enviable record of having picked up a five-wicket haul on their first first-class game.

It was while debuting for Mumbai against Gujarat around 31 years ago,that too at Wankhede,when the older of the two had finished with figures of 5 for 59. Mumbai had incidentally won that particular match by an innings. And the hosts,who finished the day on 22 for no loss,have made the perfect beginning to this one.

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Aavishkar Salvi,who broke down with a side strain after bowling only nine deliveries,struck in the very first over of the Punjab innings. And though Sandhu did exhibit a touch of nerves with his first delivery,he picked up his first wicket with his third. The in-swinger nipped back sharply,took Ravi Inder Singhs inside-edge before Kaustabh Pawar held onto the catch at short-leg.

Punjab skipper Uday Kaul was next,as he too succumbed to a Sandhu in-swinger. The youngster,who learnt his craft under the tutelage of Austin Coutinho at RCF,now had figures of 2 for 3 from his first three overs. Sandhu failed to have a similar impact on the right-handers,as he struggled to find the perfect length with his barrage of out-swingers directed at them.

That is before he pulled out a surprise in-dipper to get rid of Amitoze Singh. The Punjab tail did wag a fair bit,with Bipul Sharma stroking an aggressive 68. Sandhu again proved to be the visitors scourge as he returned to clean-bowl Harmeet Singh and Baltej Singh,who was his fifth victim. Kshemal Waingankar played his part,picking up three wickets.

BRIEF SCORES: Punjab 226 (Bipul Sharma 68,Mayank Sidhana 34,Balwinder Sandhu 5/66,KM Waingankar 3/80) vs. Mumbai 22/0