The Indian under-19 players have been in the headlines off-late and Ishan Porel is no different after his match-winning spell against Pakistan in the Under-19 World Cup semi-final match.
However, Ishan’s childhood coach though revealed that the right arm medium pacer from Chandannagar in West Bengal was upset for not being picked by any team in Indian Premier League (IPL) auction and that made him more eager to prove himself on the ground.
The recent IPL auction saw some of the players from the under-19 squad being sold at a reasonably high price with the likes of Shubman Gill, Kamlesh Nagarkoti being picked by the Kolkata Knight Rider while the under-19 captain Prithvi Shaw was bought by Delhi Daredevils. Porel has been a key component of the Indian pace battery which has impressed some of the greats of the game.
The India-Pakistan contest in the semi-final stage of the World Cup was a sided affair majorly because of two Indian players. In the batting department, Shubhman Gill was flawless as he scored an unbeaten 102 in the first innings. In the bowling department, Ishan Porel broke the backbone of Pakistani batting early on as he took 4-17 helping India win the match by a huge margin of 203 runs.
However, Porel’s childhood coach Bhibhas Das said that the young bowler was disappointed after he was not picked by any franchise in the auction, “I have been regularly in touch with him over the phone during the ongoing World Cup in New Zealand. Bittu (Ishan’s nickname) was very hopeful to get to play in the IPL. But after the auction got over and he remained unsold, Bittu was very upset.”
He also added, “I told Bittu that cricket is not all about IPL. I personally am not a big admirer of T20 cricket. I advised him to prove himself on the field. Bittu also told me that he was feeling more hungry for success as he had one or two points to prove.”
Porel was 10 when his journey with the game began as started his career in National Sporting Club at Chandannagar under Prabir Mondal. Then he went to Kolkata and joined Bibhas’ Academy at Deshbandhu Park.
“Bittu was only 10 years old then. He was very lean. But I was very impressed to see him bowl at the nets the very first day. I told Anup Samaddar, a senior cricketer of Bengal, that this boy will make it big. You see, I was right then.”
A lot word had to be done on Porel’s lower body as he was a lean and tall boy initially and Das had to work on his physique, “Bittu was no longer a feeble boy. He became strong. He added more pace in his bowling. I changed his bowling action too. He previously didn’t bowl open chested, neither was his action was side on. It was a mixed kind of bowling action that he used to bowl with. I made it open chested. It gives him more control over the line and length,”
Das concluded by saying, “Bittu is very matured in his way of thinking. He knows everything could be over if they lost the World Cup Final to Australia. Bittu promised me to bring the Trophy from New Zealand. And that will be my dream come true moment.”
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