A son of a farmer and just 21 years of age, Himanshu Chauhan, a medium pacer from Delhi is slowly making waves in domestic cricket. After impressing his P.E. coach at the age of 10, Chauhan, a lanky lad from Madanpur Khadar, has gone on to idolise Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami and in his very first Ranji Trophy season, cracked the code of red-ball cricket taking 30 wickets in the season for Delhi last year.
Currently, playing in the Delhi Premier League (DPL) for the East Delhi Riders, Chauhan is on the heels of getting his first-hand experience of rubbing shoulders with the big boys as he will be part of Team C led by Ruturaj Gaikwad in the Duleep Trophy. However, Chauhan has had a bit of a taste of being with some of the stars of the game already being with the Gujarat Titans in their first season in the IPL in 2022 after his first U-19 experience.
Chauhan, who considers himself a hit-the-deck bowler, learned how to grip the seam better from Shami but ended up impressing the then GT skipper Hardik Pandya. "The first time Hardik bhaiya came in to bat, I bowled a short ball and bhaiya said it was fast so he ended up throwing a challenge of making 16 runs off six balls," Chauhan said in an exclusive interaction with India TV.
"The open nets were going on so I bowled a few yorkers. The first three deliveries I bowled yorkers and they yielded just three runs. After that I bowled length, it was a good ball but Hardik slapped it into the stands. Then Nehra sir came up to me and advised 'when your yorker was going so well, why did you change it to length?
"But I didn't concede 16 runs and I was over the moon. Everybody congratulated and appreciated me for the same. From there, my confidence went further up as I managed to stop such a dangerous hitter like Hardik," Chauhan added saying that Hardik interacted with him for a few minutes and told him that he will go a long way in his career at the higher level.
"It was a big deal for me, when a player of such stature says that to you. Very good nature," Chauhan said of Hardik. He may have been a net bowler with GT but his IPL allegiance lies with Virat Kohli, not Delhi and neither GT.
"I actually want to play for RCB because Virat bhaiya is there. I like his attitude and with the champion mindset he plays, it is somewhere there in me as well," the Delhi lad said.
The first time he was spotted in the nets doing his thing was by the Delhi coach Devang Gandhi when he was there for the trials. Having been through the age group cricket where he was under former India pacer Pankaj Singh's patronage, Chauhan mentioned that he learned a lot from him but was always confident of his ability to do well at the high level. However, he gave a lot of credit to Gandhi for believing in his ability.
"When the team was selected for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, I was bowling in the nets. I was bowling fast and cleaned up a couple of batters. Seniors like Navdeep [Saini] bhai and Ishant Sharma bhaiya were also there. So, sir [Gandhi] called me asking 'Where do you play?' I was like sir I am playing U-23.
"As the season went along, the bowlers kept getting injured and Delhi needed bowlers. Whenever there were trials or any match simulations, I bowled really well and sir was impressed. I made my debut alongside the likes of Ishant and Navdeep Saini bhaiya and that was a big achievement for me. I took four wickets in that game. So, I was just waiting for my chance and knew I would give it my all. Obviously, sir played a huge role in this and a lot of credit goes to him," Chauhan further added.
Chauhan harbours a dream of playing for India soon but has his basics cleared. He wants to go through the red-ball route and considers IPL only as a ladder towards fulfilling his dream of playing for the country and isn't afraid of playing against the big names. "I believe in myself. I think I am the best bowler in the world. Even if a Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma is batting, I don't think there will be any hesitance and I will give my best over there as well because I always believe it is the ball that makes the difference and not the bowler. You will get results if you bowl good balls. If you think about who is batting, it will not be of any use," Chauhan further said.
Chauhan will be playing along the likes of Anshul Kamboj, Gaurav Yadav, Vyshak Vijaykumar and Sandeep Warrier for Team C in Duleep Trophy, which kicks off in Bengaluru and Anantpur on September 5.
