Harnoor Singh: The Jalandhar southpaw who hails from a family of cricketers | ICC Men’s U-19 World Cup 2022
Cricket was no estranged part of Harnoor Singh’s early life. The youngster grew up around a host of professional cricketers, with his uncle playing Ranji cricket, his grandfather very much involved with the game, whilst his father Barinder Singh represented Punjab at the U19 level. However, the dream of representing their national side never came true for his ancestors, but Harnoor Singh went the distance at the Youth level.
There is great artistic flair, a bit like that of the great Caribbean cricketers, in the way Harnoor goes about his business. He has a silky-smooth touch, and looks like he spends a lot of time in the nets to perfect his timing. He uses his feet well against the spinners and seldom does he keep himself restricted.
The youngster first grabbed the limelight when he had a stunning campaign in the Challengers Trophy, where he finished as the highest run-scorer. He scored 412 runs and scored three consecutive centuries. This is one great quality in Harnoor, who ensures he converts his starts to something big.
In the ongoing U19 Asia Cup, Harnoor smashed a brilliant century against UAE in the tournament opener. He looks like the most settled customer in the Indian batting lineup in this tournament and chipped in with good knocks against Pakistan and Afghanistan as well.
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When wickets were tumbling around against Pakistan, Harnoor kept his calm and got a 59-ball 46 which included 6 boundaries. He continued that brilliance with a well-compiled half-century, getting 65 off 74 deliveries while chasing 260 runs against Afghanistan. With 231 runs in 3 innings, he is the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament, second only to Meet Bhavsar from Kuwait.
His form is incredibly promising for the side ahead of the World Cup in West Indies, and considering a fact that most of his knocks came under tremendous pressure, it is clear that he will be India’s pillar in the batting lineup. Under Yash Dhull‘s leadership, he will be opening the innings alongside Angkrish Raghuvanshi and he perhaps, will be hogging most limelight before the tournament begins.
Harjinder Singh, coach of Harnoor Singh, expects big things from the youngster
Harnoor Singh batting next to Kaushal Tambe against UAE U19.
The U19 Indian side for the 2022 World Cup was announced last week, and there was unreal jubilation in the houses of all 17 players who were picked. Speaking of his selection to Tribune India, Harnoon Singh mentioned that his form in the domestic season helped him get through to the national side.
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“I had a good domestic season and this selection is the result of my latest performance. Three consecutive centuries and hitting a maximum number of boundaries in the Challenger Trophy helped me get selectors’ attention,” He said. His coach Harjinder Singh is pretty confident that the 18-year-old can make his mark in world cricket and he was dreaming of representing the national side for a long time.
“He is going to shine in world cricket,” said Harjinder Singh, also adding his elation on his student’s selection.
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The ICC U19 Men’s World Cup 2022 will begin in West Indies next month and having won the title four times previously, India once again will enter as the favorites. India also reached the final in the last three editions, losing to West Indies and Bangladesh in 2016 and 2020, whilst defeating Australia in 2018.
In the last three editions, we saw one top-order batter come up the ranks. In 2016, Rishabh Pant made a great impression and instantly earned an IPL contract. The likes of Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal finished as the highest run-scorers in the next two editions of the tournament, and both these players have come a long way in their careers with plenty more to come.
There are decent signs to suggest Harnoor Singh could join that list of individuals and be the run-scoring machine for the men in blue. If he can manage something like that, all 10 IPL teams will be keeping a keen eye when the mega auction will arrive in February.