Western Sydney product Harjas Singh has become one of the country’s best young players of spin thanks in part to the Sikh martial art Gatka.
The 19-year-old, who represents Western Suburbs in NSW Premier Cricket’s first-class competition, has strong wrists, which help him defeat opponent spinners, especially through the air. During the recent Under-19 World Cup final against India, Singh top-scored for Australia with a reply knock of 55 off 64 balls, with his 42 coming against the tweakers.
“You can say that my batting style is different from many people. I’ve kind of found my own unique approach,” Singh told reporters.
“A lot of other boys like their cuts and pulls, but I just slap the spinners.
“I feel more confident against (spin). I have more boundary options, like I can hit the same ball to four different places.”
Singh, who grew up in a Punjabi family, credits his strong wrists to the martial art of Gatka, which mimics sword fighting using long wooden sticks and shields.
“You have to have very strong wrists for this,” Singh explained.
“With heavy spears and swords that you swing, it’s really tiring on your wrists.
“The more you do this, the stronger they get.”
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In February, Australia defeated India by 79 runs in Benoni to secure their first Under-19 World Cup title in 14 years, with Singh opening the season with a half-century.
The left-hander, whose parents were born in India, had averaged 8.17 in his last six appearances in the tournament, but he was not feeling dejected ahead of India’s win.
“India’s spin bowling is their strength, and playing spin bowling is my strength, so it’s in my hands,” Singh declared.
“A big game against India, where my parents were born. The stage was set for me, so I took the opportunity.”
The crowd at the Benoni venue was packed with vocal Indian fans, making it not only the largest crowd that Singh had performed in front of, but also the loudest crowd. The only Australian supporters in attendance were parents who had flown across the Indian Ocean.
“I couldn’t hear my friend sitting at the other end,” Singh said.
“With the band leaving and everything, it was just surreal.
“It was good to shut them up. The best feeling is when you are winning and you see people leaving the stadium. See you guys later.”
Singh, who was born in Sydney and grew up in Liverpool, started playing cricket at the age of eight. His father was a state boxing champion in Punjab, while his mother was a state level long jump player.
The teen does not drink alcohol or eat meat for spiritual reasons, which has no effect on his diet as long as he “drinks an extra protein shake”.
He speaks Punjabi at home, but his mother sometimes has difficulty understanding his “bogan accent” that has developed over the last decade.
“Because I played cricket in Bankstown when I was young, I’ve got that sort of Wog accent,” Singh said with a laugh.
Singh is right-handed but bats left-handed due to a childhood incident. While playing cricket in a cement alley next to his house, his uncle hit a pull shot into the nearby windows, leaving a large crack that was not healed for many years.
To avoid causing further damage to the family home, Singh turned southbound.
“I got PTSD from that,” he said, smiling.
“I turned left so I didn’t hit any windows.”
Singh grew up playing cricket for the Bankstown under-12 team in the Arch Kawasi Shield. He was the only black man in a team consisting of white children, who rarely got a chance to bat in the upper order.
“It was definitely white based, there were a lot of white guys there,” Singh recalled.
“For the first two years, I was just there, filling out a team. I will not bat or bowl at 8 o’clock.
The parents of one of his teammates convinced the coach to let Singh bat at number 3 for a match. He scored 160, which was the first century of many.
Two years earlier, Singh had become the eighth youngest cricketer to score a century in the first-class competition in Sydney, achieving the feat before his 17th birthday. He is guided by high-profile batting coach Neil D’Costa, who has a network of players including Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Clarke and Phillip Hughes.
“This guy is special,” D’Costa recently said of Singh.
“He is capable of playing Test cricket for Australia.”
Sometimes once he settles down in the middle, he gets into the opposition’s mind by asking the nearest fielder where they want him to hit the next ball. Often, he obliges them by hitting a limit in their requested direction.
“I like to compete with the guys closest to me – cover, mid-wicket and the keeper, especially the bowlers,” Singh said.
“I have that, sorry for my language, but I have shit in me. I like to compete and be aggressive.
“Sometimes it bites me in the ass.
“I love talking back, but I’m trying to keep myself reserved these days, since I’m so young in first grade. I would get chewed out by these older friends and more experienced people.
“I would say keeping quiet is probably the best thing, but sometimes you can’t help it.”
After having a drink during the 2023 New Year Test against South Africa at the SCG, Singh scored a century against England in the Youth Test at Worcester.
However, Singh did not compile the runs he would have liked at grade level this summer, finishing the season with 265 runs at 22.08 for Western Suburbs. In the last match against Campbelltown he scored 97 from 144 balls, in which Western Suburbs missed the final by a narrow margin.
Singh’s next goal is to earn a rookie contract with New South Wales, but he admits he needs to earn it.
“If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen,” Singh said.
“Everyone has the same posture. To make teams you have to score runs.
“If you don’t score runs, you won’t be able to make a place in the team. If I don’t score runs and make the team, I can’t blame it on racism, can I?
“When you are scoring runs, you will get picked in teams, and that is what I have to keep doing.
“You just have to work hard to get a rookie contract, and then it goes from there.”
Only one Sikh cricketer has represented New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield – former Australian bowler Gurinder Sandhu – but the prevalence of South Asian players at domestic level is beginning to emulate the wider population. Usman Khawaja and Alana King are having stellar international careers, while Tanvir Sangha and Ashley Chandrasinghe are dominating the East Coast.
“In every grade competition you see that the highest run scorer is always an Indian,” Singh said.
“I would say it is time for more of them to come forward.
“I would love to be the leader that speaks about it when it comes up, to be the person that moves it forward and helps make it easier for everyone else.”
