Ramandeep Singh drills himself into the KKR folklore

What do you associate with Kolkata Knight Riders? 

A lot of power. A lot of glitz. A lot of chutzpah. 

Ramandeep Singh has all of that. More importantly, he has the secret sauce that connects all the KKR legends: confidence. 

In front of the Eden Gardens faithful, Ramandeep couldn’t have asked for a better stage. If he clicked, the faithful would instantly hymn him straight into their folklore. But the situation was far away from being tailor-made for him, at 51/4. He sat in the dressing room, watching the top-order crumble. 

He sat there, perhaps thinking, what would happen if he got out early. Or it seemed. Ramandeep walked out like a man possessed, and it is no surprise that his idol is Andre Russell, another man who doesn’t put a lot of price on his wicket. 

"I’ve been following Russell right from the start and have seen how he creates an impact in the T20 format with bat as well as ball. Whenever I bat, I try and think what Andre would do in this situation and then look to execute that,” Ramandeep told KKR Knight Club. 

Both of them only know one thing: smacking the ball. 

Until March 23 (Saturday), Ramandeep had batted only in five IPL games, scoring 45 runs with an average of 22.50, with a strike rate of 112.50. In total, he had faced just 40 deliveries. Gauging a talent from such a small sample size would have meant that Ramandeep’s career would have ended then and there. 

But Kolkata’s scouting route dug deep, identifying the 26-year-old’s talent that could help the franchise. It was his ability to drill the ball and still accumulate runs for fun. At the 2023 Sher E Punjab T20 Cup, the all-rounder finished the tournament as the fifth-highest run-scorer, with 418 runs. 

It doesn’t end there. He had a strike rate of 172.73, with 21 sixes in the competition, the third-most sixes for a batter that year. Across the last two Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) editions, hitting a six every 6.9 deliveries. 

And it didn’t go in vain. His ball-smacking ability caught the attention of KKR’s head coach Chandrakant Pandit. 

“Yes, he’s (Ramandeep) got the power and a very good potential. He’s been doing well in the domestic cricket as well. He’s a little fearless player; he wants to go after the ball,” Pandit told the broadcaster Star Sports during the match. 

On any other day, his debut for KKR would have lasted just one ball. But the Punjab all-rounder took matters into his own hands today, smacking Pat Cummins for a four and a six. He then went one step ahead, with a massive six off Mayank Markande. 

Ramandeep saw Marco Jansen’s delivery as if it were football. At 26 off 11, he had already made an impact. Then, he removed his helmet and punished Shahbaz Ahmed with a colossal six. It wasn’t just huge. It was huge, and it was elegant, and it was over the covers. 

You could freeze that moment and watch it for a lifetime. The fun lasted only 17 deliveries but his 35 runs showed why KKR might have invested in the right place. 

“We would like to take advantage of that,” Pandit added in the same interview. 

Kolkata Knight Riders are taking the utmost advantage of that. It was a stage for Ramandeep Singh to take off, and he did so in the most KKR of style - full of swag.

Play Asli Fantasy on Cricket.com. Don't delay, Download Our App Now.