The first ball of the second innings of the 2023-24 Vijay Trophy semifinal between Tamil Nadu and Haryana seemed like an event in itself. Anshul Kamboj, the skilful pace bowler, charged to the crease with a burst of vigour. He didn’t exactly lift his front knee around stump high, but when he thumped the braced front leg and released the ball, there was a fair bit of venom behind it. Basically, it hastened off the deck and Baba Aparajith hurriedly offered a straight bat to keep it out. The crux of that offering from Kamboj was he had made the batter play while facing his first ball of the innings.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that he dismissed Hari Nishaanth in the very next over and went on to bag the prized scalp of Tamil Nadu’s run-machine, Baba Indrajith. And it did not seem like a source of amazement that he was one of the mainstays for the eventual champions, Haryana, with 17 wickets at an average of 16 and economy rate of just 3.58. The last part of his impressive record in that tournament says something about his old-school virtues – control, repeatable action and the ability to make the batter play.
At that point of time, you wondered whether Kamboj’s methods were best suited for the longest format. Test cricket is about being good at the art of repetition and he has the required tools for it. However, it was an eye-opener that Kamboj’s first-class record wasn’t anything to write home about; he was picking up a mere two scalps per every first-class game.
In that context, one has to evaluate his spectacular performance against India B in the ongoing Duleep Trophy. He bowled marathon spells and took 8 for 69 in 27.5 overs. Kamboj had to bowl some long spells as one of India C’s bowlers, Sandeep Warrier, suffered an injury during his opening spell. So, he and Vijaykumar Vyshak had to shoulder more responsibility, with the former taking the majority of the wickets. Ideally, Kamboj’s maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket should kickstart his first-class career. If everything goes well from here on, he could very well achieve higher honours.
There is something else that gives an inkling of Kamboj’s mental make-up. In the IPL 2024 game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians, Kamboj executed the round-the-wicket plan against Travis Head to near-perfection. But there was pain and agony for the seamer as he over-stepped and the umpire aptly adjudged it as a no-ball.
After that missed opportunity, Kamboj was taken to the cleaners. In that tournament, he could only bag two scalps over three matches, and his economy rate was as high as 11.4. Kamboj seems to have taken the initial setbacks in the right spirit. If anything, those harsh lessons perhaps helped him to become a better bowler. If the Karnal-born cricketer continues to improve by small percentages, the future looks bright indeed.