Such has been the poise with which Yash Punja has taken to the Indian Premier League, it feels as though he was always destined for the big time.
When he made his debut for Rajasthan Royals last month, it was at one of cricket’s most coveted destinations – the 68,000-capacity Eden Gardens.
Playing against multiple-title winners Kolkata Knight Riders, the 19-year-old leg-spinner picked up 1-25 in a strikingly neat first crack at the IPL.
This was a kid who did not play representative age-group cricket for his birth country, the UAE, but has taken to the big league as if he was born to it.
And yet the coaches who oversaw his rise at Zayed Cricket Academy in Abu Dhabi would not have made any such lavish predictions for him when he first turned up.
“When he started coming to the academy, we felt it was just because his brother comes,” Sandeep Dhuri, a ZCA coach, recalls of the then seven-year-old Punja.
“We felt like, ‘Oh my God, who is this? Is he really going to play cricket?’ We felt there is absolutely nothing in him as far as cricket is concerned.
“He's a man of very few words, but a good observer, and he picked up things at such a rapid pace.”
Dhuri started coaching at the academy in 2006, which, coincidentally, was the year Punja was born. He oversaw Punja’s development from the young kid his older brother Yodhin brought along with him to a player of substance.
The moment they realised the younger sibling had something was when he switched from pace to leg-spin. Although, even then, initial impressions were indifferent.
“When he first started, it was horrible,” Dhuri said. “But within no time, he picked up the skills so beautifully. The amount of skill he absorbed was tremendous
“In that period, he grew very tall. Generally, you expect a spinner to flight the ball, but as he grew taller and taller, that became very problematic.
“We told him to go flatter because he was already tall, so you can't further flight the ball. And he picked up that skill very fast.”
Aside from those skills, Dhuri said Punja always had one obvious winning trait: his attitude.
He said the aspiring spin bowler would never miss a practice session or match, “even if he had to adjust his school timings, he was always there”.
“Also, if you're well-mannered, if you're courteous, if you're kind to people, people will definitely be there to help you,” Dhuri said.
“Those things are very important. Be good to people, respect people, respect your coaches, managers, selectors, and even the other guys also. Those things were always there with him as well, as with his brother.”
UAE batter Ethan D’Souza was born three months apart from Punja. They spent seven years playing alongside each other at the academy
“He was a very good learner and he always wanted to be better,” D’Souza said.
“If there was something in his bowling, he would always try and ask others about it. If I was batting against him, he always asked me about it and what he can do better and I'd try and ask questions to him, too.”
D’Souza, a left-handed batter, said the toughest challenge when facing Punja was the bounce he was able to get, given his height.
“It was something that not many leg-spinners have,” D’Souza said.
“And, with his variations, it was also tough to pick him. He was not the sort of bowler you had faced before, and it was tough to face him towards the end of when he was here.”
D’Souza said he is proud to see his mate playing among the sport’s biggest stars in India.
“It is a surreal feeling to watch him playing in the IPL,” D’Souza said.
“He always looks like he's going to pick up a wicket. He’s been bowling very well. There’s been some high scores in those IPL games, so for him to come and pick up wickets and be a lead bowler is actually pretty serious.”
And Punja’s achievement of making the grade in the IPL goes to show those cohorts who follow him at the ZCA that it can be done.
“This is now the benchmark for it,” coach Dhuri said. “We tell the children, this is where he is, and if you want to get there too, there is no shortcut.
“We tell them, it is all about your hard work, it is how you train yourself. This boy has trained tremendously.
“He has sacrificed so many things, been so obedient and hardworking, passionate, sincere. That is what you need to have.”
