India Kaulling for Siddarth Kaul

Hyderabad: Hard work, dedication, sincerity — these three success mantras sum up Siddarth Kaul’s cricketing career after he was summoned for the first time to be part of the Indian side for the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka.

On Monday, Siddarth was busy strategising the downfall of Services in Punjab’s Ranji Trophy match at Amritsar when the on-field umpires broke the biggest news of his life.

“I was in the middle of the match. During drinks break match referee informed about it (India call-up) to the umpires who conveyed the news to me. I just went blank,” Siddarth said while speaking to this paper on Tuesday.

“I was hopeful, but did not expect the news to break like this,” he chuckled.
Siddarth was a part of the Virat Kohli led-side which won the 2008 U-19 World Cup after defeating South Africa.

Apart from this, the pacer has done fairly well in domestic games and also while representing India ‘A’ against South Africa ‘A’, Afghanistan ‘A’ and New Zealand ‘A’, earlier this year. But, it was in the last IPL where his variations with the white ball helped him garner attention.

While lauding IPL’s contribution, the 27-year-old said: “IPL provides great exposure. It is like competing at the international platform. Playing with and against different players from the world has helped me get a lot of experience.”
He was all praise for his former Sunrisers Hyderabad teammate Ashish Nehra and coach Tom Moody. “Ashish and Tom sir have played important roles in improving my bowling. Both of them helped me correct my flaws. Nehra has always been a helpful senior to us,” he said.

Meanwhile Punjab’s coach and former India wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra too heaped praise on his ward. He said: “Siddarth is very dedicated towards his game. He may not have searing pace but his variations can outsmart any batsman on a given day.”

“A fast bowler must have good rhythm and that is visible in Siddarth. He can swing the ball both ways which makes him a very good bowler for the limited overs cricket,” Ratra added.

The Punjab pacer comes from a family of cricketers. His father Tej Kaul played first-class cricket for Jammu & Kashmir while his brother Uday Kaul is a wicketkeeper batsman for Punjab.

Siddarth says his father has played an important role in shaping his career. “I inherited cricket from my father and whatever I have learnt is because of him.

Both (father & brother) are the first ones whom I can turn to when I am going through ups and downs,” Kaul said. Asked about his plans for the 2019 World Cup, Kaul said: “I am not thinking so far at the moment, I want to go step by step. Currently, I want to focus on the upcoming ODI series (against Sri Lanka).”