I knew that good performance at the domestic level will be rewarded: Siddharth Kaul

Punjab’s Siddharth Kaul has been named in the 15-member Indian squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. Kaul hogged the spotlight after bowling the final over of the U19 world cup final against South Africa in the year 2008. The squad was led by a young Virat Kohli then, and featured the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Saurabh Tiwary.

He got the news about his selection during the drinks break while playing the Ranji Trophy match between Punjab and Services as the umpires  Vineet Kulkarni and K Srinath shared the news with him. Kaul was delighted and somewhere deep down knew that the hard work has been rewarded.

“I was always hopeful that if I kept performing, I would get my share of chances. Yes, it was a great feeling to win the U-19 World Cup but all these years I knew that good performance at the domestic level would be rewarded. I had to focus on being consistent in domestic cricket. That was my endeavour and this is a reward for that,” said Kaul, as reported by PTI.

Influence of Rahul Dravid

“Playing for India A or the IPL is top level cricket and it always gives you that confidence that you can belong to a certain level. What helped me was my interactions with Rahul Dravid. Rahul sir would always tell me that self-belief is key for any player. At this level, it is about doing small things right on a consistent basis. That’s what I did when I was playing against New Zealand A or South Africa A.”

On his fitness

“I would give a lot of credit to our Punjab team trainer Sagar Diwan. Training with him has improved my fitness and stamina and has also helped in increasing my pace. I am also able to move the ball both ways consistently. When your brother [Uday] is a wicketkeeper, you get first-hand input about how the ball is releasing out of your hand.”