Ranji Trophy 2019-20 | Used my height to bowl up, paced up from 130 to 140, reveals Ishan Porel
Bought by Kings XI Punjab for his sheer pace, Bengal’s Ishan Porel has used his height, hus natural strength, to bowl up and swing the ball that helped him pace up from 130 kph to clocking speeds upto 140. Besides, he has also mastered the art of bowling bouncers and yorkers at an incredible pace.
The promise that Bengal’s young and able Ishan Porel brings to the table is undeniable. The 21-year-old fast bowler clocks speeds of 140kph and beyond and that made Anil Kumble rope in the Chandannagar speedster. The local prodigy was first noticed by selectors when narrowing down the India squad for the 2018 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand.
Much before that, in 2014, Porel was categorised as "underweight" at the National Cricket Academy and declared unfit. But fate took him to the U-19 World Cup road, however, there were hurdles there as well. With a heel injury, it was unlikely for Porel to play but Rahul Dravid, the then India Under-19 head coach, made sure Porel returned for the quarter-final against Bangladesh, and then he bowled a match-winning spell of 4 for 17 in the semi-final against Pakistan and took two breakthrough wickets in the final against Australia.
Porel, of U-19 fame then proved himself further with his performance in the 2019 Vijay Hazare Trophy, followed by his five-fer in the 50-over Deodhar Trophy final in November that attracted the attention of IPL franchise owners. KXIP bought him for his base price, 20 lakhs.
Amidst all this, the youngster himself believes that it’s the Ranji Trophy that taught him patience and the merit to figure things out for himself.
"Ranji Trophy teaches you patience. I have been in the circuit for three years. No two wickets have been the same. You can't bowl the same way in Eden like you do in Bangalore or Hubli. I hadn't figured this out earlier, but playing domestic cricket allows you to learn on your own and figure things out,” Porel was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
"Back of a length isn't something you can bowl on good tracks in India, and that is my natural strength because of my height. So I've learnt to bowl up, swing the ball. Earlier, I used to do it at 130kph. Now, I'm close to 140. That has also made a difference," he revealed.