IPL 2018: Manjot Kalra excited to rub shoulders with Gautam Gambhir and Ricky Ponting

Manjot Kalra was an integral element of India’s squad which won the recently concluded Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand. The Delhi-born cricketer showed exemplary form and played some crucial knocks in his team’s victorious campaign. The left-handed batsman scored a magnificent century in the Final against Australia at Mount Maunganui and helped India win the title.

Subsequently, he was crowned as the Player of the Match owing to his match-winning knock against Jason Sangha’s Australia. To multiply his joy, Kalra has also been rewarded with a lucrative deal in the Indian Premier League. He was snapped up by the Delhi Daredevils for INR 20 Lakhs in the recently concluded auction in Bangalore. The cricketer recently spoke to the media regarding his upcoming stint with the Daredevils camp.

Kalra’s excitement

Also, he expressed his eagerness to interact with the likes of Ricky Ponting and Gautam Gambhir. “First and foremost I will get a chance to interact with them (Ponting and Gambhir) which is a very big thing for me. I’m very excited. I will take it (IPL selection) as an opportunity. If I get a chance to play, I will try to make it count as much as I can,” Kalra was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.

The cricketer also mentioned about India’s approach in the Final and how Prithvi Shaw’s boys managed to clinch the victory. “The track was good but Australia threw their wickets away and were some runs short. We were, in fact, expecting a target of around 270-280 which is in itself a big total. The pressure was on us as a World Cup final is a big thing but we had a pretty solid batting line up and above that, all the batsmen were in good touch,” he added.

The Delhi Daredevils had a dismal outing in the erstwhile edition of the Indian Premier League. However, with the inclusion of names like Colin Munro, Jason Roy, Gautam Gambhir and Glenn Maxwell, the franchise would be hoping to stage a comeback in the upcoming season of the prestigious tournament.

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