“Koi aakhda ae lucky, koi tukka lgea aakhde ne. Mehnat kr andekhi saare, kismat nu hi puchkarde ne! Changey sameya ch saare maar baazi lende, Tagde ohi jo time maadeya nu picharhde ne. Vadde jigre valea nu thalle rakhna saukha ni, Maade jehreya vaale hi aaukhiyan ch haarde ne!
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The translation of Arshdeep’s poem is this: “For some, I’m lucky, for some, it’s just a fluke. All they ignore is my hard work. All they talk about is fate and destiny. When time is good, anyone can succeed, but the character is tested when one overcomes tough times. Courageous individuals will not back down easily. And a character like me won’t lose hope in tough times.”
True to his words, Arshdeep had his redemption against Pakistan on Sunday. He trapped LBW arguably the world’s best batter Babar Azam, in the first ball he bowled. He then bounced out Mohammed Rizwan, World No.1 in the T20Is. He came back to force Asif Ali to duck and then fend off a well directed climbing ball to wrap up a good spell.
Just a few weeks ago, Arshdeep Singh was subjected to trolling after dropping Asif Ali in a tense chase in the Asia Cup, his Wikipedia page was edited to portray him as a Khalistani.
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It happened during the game when Arshdeep’s parents, Darshan Singh and Baljeet Kaur watched their son play an international game from the stands for the first time.
“He will come back stronger,” Arshdeep’s father had told Indian Express.
Cut to the present, they are at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), but this time the storyline was different.
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Arshdeep’s mother hardly watches his son play. When his son marks the bowling run up, she is either at the Gurudwara or be praying in front of the picture of Guru Nanak.
“This ritual started when he first played for India. He always bowls the most difficult overs. I don’t know much about the game, but I can’t see batters scoring runs against him,” said Baljeet.
What hurts Arshdeep’s parents most is that when they see random social media posts making fun of their son if he has had a poor game.
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“I try to ignore it, but she (Baljeet) takes it to heart. She will cry if something distasteful will be there on the internet. I have told her so many times, you can’t stop it,” said Darshan, a former Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) inspector who put in 25 years of service.
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“It’s a batsmen game. It has always been, I can tell you, because I am a bowler myself. Not every day, can one excel in the field. You are supposed to have an off day too,” says Darshan, who has played in the Katoch Shield, Punjab’s Inter-district cricket tournament.
Growing up, Arshdeep never had to look anywhere else for inspiration. He learned the basics of fast bowling from his father, and Darshan still taunts his son that he was a better bowler.
“It’s a father-son joke. I still play corporate cricket, where my economy rate is below six. I will keep reminding him about it. Earlier, he used to get annoyed but now he only laughs,” said Darshan.
Darshan wanted his son to play cricket at the highest level but at the same time, as a father, he wanted a secure life for him. In 2017, when Arshdeep was still not a regular to the Punjab Under-19 team, he asked him, if he was interested in moving to Canada where Arshdeep’s elder brother was.
“At first, he was shocked. Like any teenager, he started throwing tantrums. He told me ‘you wanted me to be a cricketer and now you want me to stop playing it,’” recollect Darshan.
“My biggest worry was what if he will never make it. He should have a second career option. I gave him one year and the goal was to make it into the India U-19, and with that he will not drop out of school as education is a must,” said Darshan.
A confident Arshdeep replied to his father: “You wait and see, I will make it. I will play for India.”
Arshdeep stayed true to his promise and did reasonably well in his studies; he is a graduate now and India’s most dependable bowler in the T20Is.
It has never been easy for Arshdeep. To save costs and to stay fit, he would cycle for practice while hauling the heavy kit bag too. The distance from his house in Kharar to Chandigarh’s Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, where he trains, is 15 kilometres. But he never complained.
The bicycle on which he used to travel is junk now, but Baljeet doesn’t want to throw it away. The plan is to paint it, once they are be back from Australia and park it alongside their family car.
