Harry Gurney is among the few in world cricket who operates solely as a Twenty20 specialist.Kolkata Knight Riders seamer Harry Gurney is among the few in world cricket who operates solely as a Twenty20 specialist. Retiring from the red-ball format, the 32-year-old left-armer from Nottingham has evolved as a priceless commodity who plies his trade in various T20 leagues across the world, including the Big Bash League for Melbourne Renegades, and in the Pakistan Super League, for Quetta Gladiators.
While the decision to turn his back on Test cricket did raise a few eyebrows back home in England, Gurney has no qualms about it and wants to focus at the job at hand- helping KKR reach the playoffs in IPL 2019.
“At the start of the tournament, I was getting a bit frustrated sitting on the bench. But now it is is very pleasing to play for the team. I am really hoping that we can put on a good run of form through the second half of the tournament and into the knockouts,” Gurney said in a conversation with the indianexpress.com.
On his IPL debut, against Rajasthan Royals on April 7, Gurney was adjudged as the man of the match as he returned with figures of 2/25 in four overs. What stood out in his spell was his ability to slow down the ball at will and bamboozle batsmen with it on the yorker length and even on a full toss.
Defence is the best form of attack
But the primary objective of these variations is not to pick wickets and instead dry up the run-flow. Explaining his thought process Gurney said, “I never think about taking wickets despite captains and coaches saying that all the time. For me the economy rate is my number one priority and with that comes wickets. That’s always been my approach to any batsmen in this format.”
So are the pitches in India suiting his skill set? “I think there has been quite a big variation in pitches across the country. Jaipur and Chennai were quite dry, slow whereas Eden Gardens presents something quite different,” he said.
“So bowling on them can hopefully give me a chance to show that there is more to me than just running in bowling cutters. I have a diverse skill set and will put it to use depending on the conditions,” he added.
So far in season 12 of the IPL, Gurney has played in five matches and bagged four wickets with an economy rate of 8.75.
Test to T20
In his 12-year playing career, Gurney has played 103 first-class matches and taken 310 wickets but he truly excelled after the taking the call to retire from the longer version.
“What it allows me to do is spend more time in the gym and training physically and also get more time to sharpen my T20 skills. Now I am solely focussed on one format rather than going from T20 to then playing a month of four-day cricket and then switching again. I would prefer gaps in my schedule where I can work on my slower balls and develop a new one and work on my skills,” he explained.
Finding time has been a bit difficult as he has been on the road since the end of last year playing in the Big Bash, the Sharjah-based T10 League, PSL and now in the IPL. In all his outings Gurney has bowled under either in the powerplay or death overs. But he is unfazed by the prospect of performing under this pressure.
“Wherever you go there is a really good standard and really good players trying to hit you out of the ground. So you have to be prepared for that and the pressure that comes with it. Each competition has different playing conditions. There is no doubt that the IPL is the big league, the no.1 T20 competition in the world,” he said.
“There is always pressure when you walk to the pitch but that is why sportsperson gets paid for, the ability to deal with that pressure. Generally, professional sports chews up and spits out those who do not have that element of mental strength,” he explained.
Numbers reveal an interesting fact- Gurney has never lost a T20 final in his career. So if KKR can indeed make it there then the Englishman can well be their lucky charm.
“I hope so, I have never lost any final I have played in. So every time I get to one of them I am worried that it’s my turn to lose one. I have won T20, Big Bash and PSL, so I am praying that I will bring that luck to KKR and it will be a nice way to finish my summer,” he signed off
