'Will break that door with such force' - Discarded Indian pacer makes tall claim
The difficulty to break into the India team has increased drastically ever since the inception of Indian Premier League (IPL) with a plethora of promising talents coming up the ranks. Added to that are the popular domestic tournaments - Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT).
Only a small fraction of the players with exemplary performances have managed to get a few sporadic chances in the big leagues. Among the leading wicket-takers in the history of SMAT, only few have gotten a chance in no more than 10 T20Is for the national team. Similarly, in VHT, only a few top wicket-takers have earned more than 10 ODIs caps for India.
In the current domestic season, Siddharth Kaul from Punjab emerged as the highest wicket-taker in SMAT's history and also surpassed the 150-wicket mark in the VHT. Kaul boasts 120 wickets in 87 SMAT matches at an average of 18.25 and 155 wickets in 75 VHT matches at an average of 20.21.
Siddharth Kaul makes a tall claim
Having played three ODIs and three T20Is for India in 2018-19, Kaul has no wickets in the 50-overs format. However, in T20Is against Ireland, England, and Australia, he delivered performances with figures of 1/4, 2/35, and 1/45 before facing exclusion from the team.
During the last complete IPL season he played, Kaul emerged as the joint second-highest wicket-taker with 21 scalps at an average of 26.04. However, in the subsequent five seasons (three with Sunrisers Hyderabad and two with Royal Challengers Bangalore), his participation dwindled to limited games.
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Speaking in an interview with Sportskeeda on his ambitions of making a return, Kaul said, "I am never going to stop trying. I will break that door open. I will break that door with such force that they'll have to say, 'Brother, you please come in'. I'd like to achieve that."
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