The Indian squads for the ODI and T20I series against Australia in January have been announced, and a young left-arm seamer from Punjab – Barinder Balbirsingh Sran – has been selected for the ODI side following his impressive performances in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Other cricketers making their comebacks to the ODI side have been the in-form Ravindra Jadeja, the fit-again Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Manish Pandey and Rishi Dhawan.
The surprise comes in the T20I squad, though, as the veteran middle-order maestro, Yuvraj Singh, has returned riding on his match-winning performances in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, and the Ranji Trophy over the past two seasons.
Experienced fast bowler, Ashish Nehra has also been selected for the T20Is, after impressive stints with the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, whereas Hardik Pandya has been rewarded for his big hitting for the Mumbai Indians.
Suresh Raina, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Stuart Binny and Harbhajan Singh have lost their places in the ODI side while Mohit Sharma was unavailable for selection due to an injury.
The talking point, besides Yuvraj’s comeback, as far as the ODI team is concerned, is the inclusion of a 23-year-old Sran, who has impressed one and all with his exploits in domestic cricket.
Here are 10 things to be known about this promising Punjab youngster:
1. He made his first-class debut in a Group A Ranji Trophy game against Orissa on November 10, 2011, and impressed immediately, picking up three wickets in the first innings and four in the second. Although his team-mates Manpreet Gony and Sandeep Sharma partly overshadowed his performance, his arrival on the domestic scene was clear to everyone.
2. He has taken 32 wickets from 11 first-class matches at an average of 34.06 and a decent economy rate of 3.59, with best match figures of 7/93.
3. He has also taken 15 wickets from 7 List A games at an impressive average of 26.73 and a more than impressive strike-rate of 25.4 with best match figures of 4/60 against Rajasthan, in Punjab’s recent victory that qualified them for the quarterfinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
4. With players being now selected into the side based on IPL performances, Sran has made it to the team purely based on his performances in the domestic cricket, as he has played just one IPL game – for the Rajasthan Royals against Kolkata Knight Riders.
5. One interesting fact about Sran is that he wanted to pursue a career in boxing and was honing his skills at the Bhiwani Boxing Club, Haryana before appearing for a Kings XI Punjab talent hunt in Mohali in 2010.
6. KXIP wasn’t in his fate, at least so far, but the left-arm pacer impressed the Punjab selectors with his sharp in-swingers and decent speed. Consequently, he made his debut for the Punjab Ranji side in 2011.
7. He was almost a regular starter for Punjab before injuries crept in, due to which he has played only 11 FC games over 4 seasons. “Had it not been for injuries that he suffered at wrong times, Barinder would have been a regular in our side. He is left-handed and brings the ball into the right-hander at a decent pace. That kind of variety and potency is something our team requires. When he played for Punjab in 2011 for the first time, I was convinced that this guy has a big future ahead of him," Punjab Ranji coach Bhupinder Singh Sr told TOI earlier this year.
8. Based on his exploits, he was picked by the Rajasthan Royals, the now suspended franchise of the IPL at the base price of Rs 10 Lakh. However, he turned out for just one game for the Royals.
9. So far he has picked up 14 wickets in six matches for Punjab in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and would be brimming with confidence when Punjab play Himachal Pradesh in the first quarter-final on December 23.
10. He has also accounted for 18 wickets at 35.66 in the 2015-16 Ranji season, and is only behind Sarabjit Ladda, as the second-highest wicket taker for Punjab.
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