Gurkeerat Singh Mann
All-rounder, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, rose to prominence in the year 2015 with his consistent performances in the domestic circuit for Punjab and India A. He was rewarded for his performances with a call-up to the national side in the same year.
In a candid chat with Circle of Cricket, Gurkeerat Singh Mann talks about his batting, D/N tests, Kings XI Punjab and a lot more.
Q) You have done fairly well in the recently concluded Duleep Trophy and you naturally are an attacking batsman. Tell us more about it?
A) Yeah, I have been batting like this since the beginning of my career only. I think it has worked for me pretty well until now. But yes, there are sometimes when you have to see off same spells and give respect to the bowler.
Q) What are your thoughts on 4-day games being played under lights?
A) Actual cricket is test cricket. That is what every cricketer dreams of being a part of. As far as night cricket goes, I believe it’s good and exciting with the pink ball. Found it a little difficult to bat against the pink ball initially while the spinners were bowling. Just a matter of time when we would get completely get used to such a ball.
Q) So do you mean facing spinner with the pink ball is more difficult that fast bowlers?
A) For me, when you play spinners under lights, it gets difficult to read the revolutions of the ball. It is a glazy all so under lights it’s difficult to pick. First, we played under lights so it definitely made a difference to us.
Q) Tell us about the difference in captaincy between MSD and Virat?
A) I think both of them have a different style of captaincy as you have seen that both are successful. Virat is Captain in Tests and Mahi Bhai is ODI and T20I. Personally, I have played under Mahi but both of them really back youngsters. Which is a good thing. They keep the morale of the team high all the time. The atmosphere of the team is always good.
Q) Any specific difference you see in their captaincy?
A) Ya, I think it’s very visible that Mahi Bhai is calm and composed captain. On the other hand, Virat is aggressive and that shown in his game. That actually gives him the kick. So that’s the difference.
Q) You seem to be a huge fan of motorbikes, tell us more about it?
A) Honestly, I am not a big fan of motorbikes. Just that I had a craze to get a Harley Davidson for myself. Although, I do not get enough time to ride it due to my busy schedule. I enjoy riding it.
Q) Do you watch football? Who’s your favourite?
A) I am a fan of Barcelona. My favourite is Luis Suarez. The icing on the cake is Messi, Suarez, and Neymar. And recently, Zlatan has joined Manchester United so I follow their games too now because of him. I like to follow the players and their styles more than the teams.
Q) Who has been your closest friend in the Kings XI Punjab line-up? Tell us about your friendship with Murali Vijay and Rishi Dhawan?
A) In Kings XI Punjab, everyone is very close to me and we stay like a family. In foreign players David Miller, Johnson and Maxwell are good friends as we have played together for quite some time now. In Indians, I am close to Murali Vijay, Rishi Dhawan, Manan Vohra and Sandeep Sharma. Most of us play for Punjab in the domestic circuit so we have a great bond. With Vijay, I have a good very equation and I look up to him as a captain and as a batsman. I like to watch him bat since the beginning when he used to play for Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He looks a classy player. It’s good that I play under him and get to see him bat.
