Gony replaces Sreesanth for tri-series
Gony has been drafted into the Indian Squad for the Bangladesh tri-series in place of Sreesanth who was ruled out with a side strain, reports Ashutosh Sharma.
It has been a fairytale year for Manpreet Singh Gony and the latest episode is just unfolding.
Gony has been drafted into the Indian Squad for the Bangladesh tri-series in place of Sreesanth who was ruled out with a side strain. When chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar personally walked up to Gony to tell him of his selection for the Emerging Players' Tournament starting July 14 in Australia it was clear that the tall fast bowler was in the selectors' radar.
It has been a rise, which many will envy. This 6 feet 4 inch medium pacer debuted for Punjab last season claiming 13 wickets and has been on roll ever since. He finished the IPL with 17 wickets in 16 games for Chennai and it is perhaps this performance that tipped the scales in his favour.
"It's a dream come true for me. I got a call from a BCCI official this morning telling me about my selection. The past one year has been phenomenal. I have achieved almost everything that I wanted to. Now my aim is to perform well enough so that I can get selected for Asia cup also," Gony said.
Gony concedes ODIs are different ball game when it comes to bowling but said he is ready for the challenge: "In Twenty20 you get just four overs and I think in 10 overs I will be able to do more justice to my bowling. The IPL is now past for me and I am starting afresh."
The strapping youngster though believes his experience in the IPL will come in handy. "I shared the new ball with Makhaya Ntini and regular interaction with him has helped me a lot during the course of the tournament," said Gony. He also looked forward to continuing to play under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, his skipper at the Chennai IPL team. "I know what he wants from bowlers and he never lets players take pressure. He selected me for every game in the IPL. I am happy I could justice to my selection."