It’s three games into the Indian Premier League (IPL), for Shamar Joseph’s Lucknow Super Giants and if one is surprised he’s not yet played, unless things change today in game four, it is a justifiable reaction.
Although the IPL T20 is not Test cricket and pitches in India are generally not as suitable to fast bowling as the Australian strips where the star Guyanese paceman burst onto the scene with a phenomenal Test debut series earlier this year, his omission can be questioned, given Lucknow’s average bowling attack.
It can be assumed Lucknow’s head coach Justin Langer is keeping Joseph back due to his almost non-existent T20 record, having only played one career T20 List A game, but the Guyanese’s track record should suggest otherwise.
In their first match, Lucknow’s strike bowlers comprised Moshin Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Krunal Pandy, Ravi Bishnoi and Yash Thakur, coming up against the Rajasthan Royals.
After the loss, Mayank Yadav was added and the team’s fortunes changed immediately as they romped to victory over Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, on the back of the young paceman’s two sterling Player-Of- the-Match awards when he bagged a total of six wickets conceding a mere 41 runs.
Yadav rattled the opposing batsmen with his blistering pace and unerring accuracy, strengths identical to Joseph, whose Test pedigree though, is far superior given his torment of the Australian batsmen for a remarkable debut series 13 wicket haul in two matches in their own backyard only three months ago.
Given the IPL’s rule restriction of only four overseas players per playing 11, it means coaches have tough decisions in arriving at the ideal starting lineup.
Yet Langer chose to be conservative in choosing Afghan’s ul-Haq over Joseph in a toss-up between the two for the last bowling place, taking into consideration team balance.
So far this year, ul-Haq has produced modest returns of four wickets at a cost of 109 runs from 11.4 overs in the three games. It leaves one to ponder whether Langer and his selection team have not been impressed enough with Joseph’s performances in net practice sessions so far.
The reality is ul-Haq is also an IPL rookie who didn’t light the competition afire in his debut season in 2023 which makes the Guyanese’s omission more of a head scratcher
Shortly after Lucknow’s second match, Langer didn’t give a sterling assessment of Joseph in a briefing, merely stating that the 24-year-old is gifted athletically and was not likely to play against Bangalore.
But the Guyanese has proven to be much more than just good with his feet and hands and it seems Langer was not watching when he ripped through the full-strength Australian batting lineup with fierce pace, control and swing at Brisbane and Adelaide in January.
It is significant that the great majority of Joseph’s career wickets were from laser-like accuracy, resulting in more than half of opposing batsmen being bowled or caught behind by the wicketkeeper or slips.
With such qualities a bowler should be successful in all formats T20s included, and it is no surprise Yadav and emerging South African left armer Nandre Burger are terrorizing batsmen this IPL with raw pace, along with evergreen Kagiso Rabada, who’re all among the leading wicket takers so far.
After observing Yadav bombard Punjab and Bangalore, former Australian batsman Shane Watson urged that the 21-one year old not be rushed into Test competition as it is a much more difficult challenge. He noted that Tests require fast bowlers to deliver on average three times more overs per day over a much longer five-day grind.
In the process Watson, Langer’s compatriot, might have inadvertently made a case for Joseph’s inclusion as the latter would’ve already passed that test with flying colors
Significantly, it was after only five first class matches, one year after the Berbician was earning his livelihood as a security guard.
It emphasizes the Guyanese’s pure natural ability and fast learning capability, and against lower quality batting opposition for the most part in the IPL, the odds favor him making a similar major impact in T20’s most high-profile domestic competition.
In retrospect, it is clear that non-West Indian coaches don’t understand that quality in Regional players as much as they should.
So many cases stand out of Caribbean players bursting on the scene at the highest level without much of a sterling record prior. Who knew much of Vivian Richards as a run machine in the domestic Shell Shield series before he broke through in the Australia tour of 1975-76 and went on to stamp his authority as one of the game’s best ever batsmen?
Curtly Ambrose was a scrubby basketball player before creating havoc on the world stage after one limited season of Regional competition. Michael Holding was a youngster thinking about his academic future when he capitalized on a golden opportunity in the said 1976 Australia tour, provided by then West Indies captain Clive Lloyd.
Joseph is the latest of that super natural type, but if Lucknow continues to win he might have a long wait to make his mark in the IPL.
If that’s the case, West Indies coach Darren Sammy should be loath to copycat Langer, as we are wont to in the Region, and make Joseph a first team choice for the fast approaching T20 World Cup.
