Punjab batsman Gurkeerat Singh Mann is hoping to get more opportunities to show his talent in the upcoming 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after being retained by the Royal Challenges Bangalore (RCB) for the IPL 2020.
Starting his IPL career with the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in 2011-12, the all-rounder didn’t get much opportunity to shine like others and even missed out on the 2018 season after limited opportunities with Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2017.
While the 29-year-old’s international career with India ended as soon as it began, as he never got a chance to sport national jersey after the right-hander played 3 One Day Internationals against Australia in 2016. However, Mann is continued to make his cause strong for the national selectors through strong performances in the domestic cricket for Punjab.
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With his brilliant domestic outing, Gurkeerat was picked by the RCB for the IPL 2019, but again, he didn’t get many matches in the 12th season as well, as the all-rounder was benched for the first half of the season.
Though the Punjab lad was given a chance in the last few games, while his 48-ball 65 in a 144-run stand with Shimron Hetmyer helped him in getting retained by the RCB franchise for IPL 2020 and now he hopes to get more chances in the middle in the upcoming season.
As per reports in Times of India, Gurkeerat said: “I waited for my chance, all I could do. Hopefully, I will play more matches in the next season.”
Meanwhile, Mann and India’s rising young star cricketer Shubman Gill are cousins. He signed off by saying about their equation: “I have kept an elder brotherly watch on him since he was six. The love of this game is the secret of our closeness. He is a great talent, quick learner, and adaptable. After the match, we do a post-mortem analysis of the game and point out each other’s flaws.”
Noteworthy, Gurkeerat has played 49 First-class matches for Punjab so far and went on to score 2942 runs with six hundreds at an average of 43.91, while made 1624 runs with six half-centuries at a strike rate of 125.11 in 98 T20s.
(With Times of India Inputs)
