American seamer Jasdeep Singh, who dismissed Babar Azam in the game USA won, does not have an IT degree like his pace bowling partner Saurabh Netravalkar or a hotel management course like his good friend Monank Patel or any first-class experience like Harmeet Singh. He also doesn’t have much experience playing in the league like Ali Khan or former New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson. But along with opening batsman Steven Taylor, Jasdeep is a rare homegrown talent in the current US team, which has stunned the world by entering the Super 8 and will face South Africa on June 19 in Antigua.
And his journey to the top belies the stereotypical narrative of an American-born cricketer.
At 16, he dropped out of school because his father Paramjit Singh lost his job during the recession around 2007. Jasdeep started working as a laborer, as his father would also do, on construction sites; it was during a lunch break that his life would begin to turn around. Stumbling upon the news that the United States had qualified for the 2010 U-19 World Cup in New Zealand, he began to wonder how to get aboard the cricket caravan.
“When I sit here in Antigua and look back, the only word that comes to mind is life. How I started playing cricket in New Jersey and now I am representing the USA, my country of birth and now I will be playing in a Super 8 match against South Africa in a Cricket World Cup. It feels like a dream, says Jasdeep to The Indian Express.
The profession involved working as a car mechanic for six years. “Until US cricket started paying me for cricket. It was difficult to hang on to work because every time you travel to play cricket you have to leave work and look for something new when you come back. I have done so many jobs. I have worked at a gas station, delivered pizzas, so and so. It was always busy. I was ready to do anything as long as I could continue my cricket.”
That dream, which began during a lunch break as a worker, had magnificently come close to being realized when he found himself on the verge of making his debut for the USA in 2017. He had reached Sri Lanka for a first-class season when the next morning landed with tragic news: his father had died .
“It was devastating. That’s when I thought okay, this is it. I chased my dream because my dad wanted me to. He was my backbone. One look at my mom and my sisters, I thought I can’t be that selfish. I have to be the breadwinner. My dad had just started a trucking business and I was going to take it over. I had no idea but I was mentally prepared that cricket was not for me. But my family, my sisters, my girlfriend (now wife), they stepped forward and said ‘No, you can’t leave this after all this grinning. We will fight and fight with you and in two years we will be fine.”
A couple of months later, he suffered a debilitating knee injury, tore his cruciate ligament, and even when he considered quitting again, people rose up. “Then there was Pubudu Dassanayake, who is currently the coach of the Canadian cricket team. He was on the phone with me every day during that period and insisted that I continue to chase my dream.”
The dream had begun as a child in India when, aged three, his father sent him back to Pandore village in Punjab’s Jalandhar district. “My father wanted us to be around family and learn the culture and tradition. Being in India was my first introduction to cricket.” It flourished when he returned to the United States, a few years later.
Somehow he held himself together to make it to the current T20 World Cup and was unsurprisingly met with more negative comments. “They’d say, ‘oh, the US couldn’t qualify but are playing a World Cup just because they’re hosting. That kind of triggered the boys because we wanted to prove everybody wrong.’ Along with Monank Patel, Jaspdeep traveled to train in Anand, Gujarat, and played a few matches in Baroda.
It was the two series against Canada and Bangladesh that really boosted the confidence of the team before the World Cup. “The series against Canada and Bangladesh helped us settle as a team and give as a unit.”
Unlike the cricket world, Jasdeep does not see the result against Pakistan as an upset. “Before the World Cup, Pakistan had lost a series against a weaker team from New Zealand, they lost against Ireland and they had low confidence. We watched all their matches, as well as analyzed all the players. That’s how we came up with the plan of what we’re going to do. There was no pressure, we knew that if we play to our potential, he says. “Babar’s wicket was so satisfying”.
Jasdeep says the key to US cricket’s success in the tournament is their diversity. “All of us are chasing the great American dream. I think people look at it like it can be a problem with 15 guys from different parts of the world playing cricket together. But for me, that’s our strength.” he says.
“Some people listen to Punjabi music, some to Afrobeats, Caribbean music and English music. There’s a genuine respect for all cultures. You’ll see Caribbean guys grooving to (Indian rapper) Sidhu Mooswala’s songs. The Punjabi guys do bhangra on Caribbean music The current squad is the true reflection of what the US is, he says Time will tell if Jasdeep and friends can extend the American dream and go deep into the Super 8s.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 2024-06-18 at 19:26 IST
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