G-Whiz: Patience, toil & a Sandhu attitude

When Gurinder Sandhu moved north from Hobart to Brisbane in mid-2020, he did so with a couple of inescapable feelings front of mind.

The first was a positive, and something that had driven his decision to relocate: he believed he still had the skills to succeed in professional cricket, in all three formats. That confidence had held strong through difficult times, and stemmed back to his two-match dalliance with international cricket almost five years prior.

"I was lucky enough to play for Australia in one-day cricket," Sandhu tells cricket.com.au. "That always gave me that belief of: That's my best, so if I can get close to my best, I'm definitely good enough."

The next thought was a little more confronting: when it came to cricket, this was his final roll of the dice. It was a feeling made more daunting by the fact that the only guarantee from Queensland Cricket was that performances in Premier Cricket would be carefully monitored.

"He came up here off his own bat – there wasn't a contract sitting there for him," says Queensland head coach Wade Seccombe. "We had a close eye on what he was doing, but we probably thought the best thing for him was to fend for himself, and then see how he went." 

As confronting as it might have been however, that second feeling also served as another motivator.

If this was his last shot, he was going to give it all he had. 

* * *

There's a simple statistic that underlines just how emphatic Gurinder Sandhu's return to Australia's domestic cricket scene has been this summer. Of the many bowlers, both fast and slow, doing the rounds across the three formats this 2021-22 season, only two have taken 50-plus wickets.

Yes, one of those, with 52, is Sandhu (Peter Siddle has 61).

For a man who didn't receive one of Queensland's initial 18 contracts in May last year, who didn't have a KFC BBL club to call home until the Sydney Thunder threw him a lifeline shortly before the tournament began, it is a remarkable turnaround.

It is also a tale of patience and toil.

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Gurinder Sandhu | All formats 2021-22

Marsh Sheffield Shield* | 5 matches, 22 wickets @ 18.04. SR 40.3. BBI: 6-57

Marsh Cup | 4 matches, 12 wickets @ 15.25. RPO 5.68. BB: 4-42

KFC BBL | 11 matches, 18 wickets @ 16.55. RPO 7.6. BB: 4-22

*Still one match to play

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Sandhu arrived in Brisbane in the middle of 2020 on the proverbial wing and a prayer. His close mate Usman Khawaja, who also happens to be Queensland captain, had opted not to advise him on whether he should make the move from Tasmania, fearing their friendship might colour his words.

Sandhu spoke to Seccombe briefly, who offered the assurance regarding Premier Cricket. But ultimately, he knew whatever wisdom he received from anyone, the call would be his to make, for better or worse. And so when he decided in the affirmative, he adopted an outlook learned from experience.

"Having played a bit of cricket, and just, I guess, being 26 years old and going through life, you started to figure out that good things take time," he says.

"There was no rush. Moving to a new place, and having done it once already in Tassie, I knew how I was going to go about it.

"I was in it for the long haul. (Queensland) is a great squad, a lot of great bowlers, so I had a feeling it could take some time, or it might not happen at all.

"But if it took a year – if it took two years, three years, however long it was – I was going to give it a good, hard, proper crack."

He said as much at the time. But words can be lightly spoken. Sandhu wanted to be about action. He landed in Brisbane and set about implementing his one-man plan. He joined Premier Cricket side Souths, where he earned an income coaching in the afternoons from Monday-Thursday. Often he would begin getting through his own bowling loads before training sessions officially began, enlisting the help of anyone who was around to catch balls as he delivered them.

Ownership and self-motivation became the daily rhythm of his life.

"That first year was actually a really good time for me to figure out, 'Right, what do I need to do to be ready for (Premier Cricket on) Saturday?" he says. 

"Not being in a program or having a contract, I was pretty much doing all my training on my own – my own gym, my own bowling sessions, my own batting.

"Over the last probably three or four years, I've learned how to actually train, and what I need to do for me personally.

"So I'd work on things how I thought was right, and with a bit of input from coaches whenever I saw them, but it was good to be able to plan things on my own, and in my own time."

The flipside to that of course is the constant discipline required to continue pushing oneself. In those early weeks and months, and without a regular squad or training mate to call on, Sandhu might have lapsed into self-doubt, slipped into lazy habits. Yet his will to continue pushing himself was based on a simple truth.

"It's the reason I was in Brisbane," the 28-year-old says. "If I wasn't working hard, there was no point in being here."

Sandhu's diligent approach was soon noticed. After teaming up with Ben Cutting for some hitting practice as he worked his way back from a calf injury, he was invited to train at the National Cricket Centre with a Queensland Cricket elite development squad under the tutelage of Ryan Harris.

Then one afternoon while he was coaching at Souths, he received a phone call from Seccombe.

Recalls Sandhu: "He just said, 'We'd like you to come and train with us, and be around the group. Make sure you chat to (strength and conditioning coach) Paul Chapman, and the physios – use them, use the facilities and make sure your body is right for cricket'."

It was the glimmer of hope he needed. Sandhu revelled in the new environment, working with some of the best cricketers in the country, and told himself he would accept every training and development opportunity that came his way.

"He'd had to be very independent in his training approach and in his thinking," Seccombe says. "And often when you're left to your own devices, you go one of two ways – you can sink or swim.

"But he kept the disciplines in his training program really well.

"He also understood that coming into a new group, you've got to work really hard and put your best foot forward at every opportunity."

* * *

Sandhu only played 10 matches for Souths through that 2020-21 Premier Cricket season, taking 10 wickets at 25. While his inclusion in Bulls training had come as a welcome fillip, it was ultimately a disjointed summer; though he only played three KFC BBL matches for the Sydney Sixers, he spent a lot of that campaign inside the Big Bash bubble, and from Boxing Day to mid-February – through the height of summer – he didn't play a single match in any competition.

As the Sixers went on to win the BBL, and the Bulls won the Marsh Sheffield Shield in April, Sandhu remained an onlooker, his mindset of patience and perseverance put to the test.

In his down time, he worked away on  his apparel brand, HMBLE, which launched last winter. It came as a welcome distraction after he had suffered another blow when he was overlooked for a Queensland state contract, despite the exit to South Australia of fellow pace bowler Brendan Doggett.

He remained undeterred, and a year into his journey, Sandhu had found enough encouragement to stick with his original plan: be patient, stay focused. Again, it was an attitude that was noticed.

"It wasn't just that first summer, it was last off-season as well – he continued that discipline in his own training," Seccombe says. "He backed himself to break into a strong bowling line-up, and then he just forced his way in from performances and showing the right attitude every time he turned up.

"Probably what I didn't realise at first was how skilful Gurinder is. We saw those skills on offer when he came in and trained with us, and we saw them when he'd play a practice game, or in a centre-wicket situation.

"And he's still a young man. Because he'd been on the scene for quite a while, it took a little a moment of reflection for us to realise that he's still someone with a lot of cricket ahead of him."

Then last October, it happened. With the departure of Doggett, and injuries to pace pair Billy Stanlake and Xavier Bartlett, a door opened for Sandhu.

With his one-day pedigree, he was viewed as a handy replacement for a 50-over clash in Adelaide, where the Bulls were kick-starting their summer. In his first state match in two years, he again proved himself a wicket-taker, claiming 4-73 from 10 overs.

 

Image Id: DB1073F4E4004A77B6C30B0DF3549487 Image Caption: Bulls coach Wade Seccombe presents Sandhu with his Queensland cap // Getty

 

A fortnight later, in Townsville, Seccombe was handing him his Bulls cap ahead of his Queensland Shield debut. And after waiting anxiously through Queensland's batting innings, he took his first Shield wicket in almost three years an hour into Tasmania's reply.

"I'd been playing grade cricket for two years, I hadn't played any Second XI cricket beforehand, so it was definitely good to get that wicket early and sort of get you away on the new journey," he reflects.

"Having a year out of state cricket, you're not too sure how you will go when you get that chance. So to be able to perform again, it was like, 'OK, I can still play at this level, and do well'."

By match's end, he had four wickets, and so it has been through the summer; in the month that followed, he took a one-day hat-trick against the Redbacks, then against the same opponent in the Shield, he claimed career-best innings figures of 6-57.

It was his first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket since his Shield debut for NSW almost nine years earlier.

A happy return to the Sydney Thunder, where he began his BBL career a decade earlier, brought with it another 18 wickets and another hat-trick, and then a second five-wicket haul against Victoria in the Shield last month was followed by four more wickets against South Australia, taking him past 20 in the competition for the first time.

Sandhu sees his success as the product of many things. Experience is one. The culture at Queensland Cricket, where he is encouraged to enjoy himself while putting in the work, where the players and coaches are close, and keen to instil belief in their colleagues, is another. There's also the technical work he has done with pace-bowling coach Andy Bichel, much of it new to Sandhu, which has improved both his back-foot landing and the path his front foot takes in the delivery stride.

Perhaps most importantly though he has allowed himself to relax. Having been to three states, having been off contract, and having been forced to stare down the reality of life outside cricket, Sandhu's journey has armed him with valuable perspective. Consequently, he wants to capture the moments while he can. The summer has not been a winning one – with Queensland or the Thunder – but he has taken plenty from it, and it has even stirred up his ambition to push for Australia honours once again.

"That definitely enters your thoughts – I guess it's why you play, really," he says. "It's definitely something I'd love to do again, but I know it's not going to happen just after one good season. Hopefully, another good season next year, and you never know.

"But for now, I'm just really happy. And really thankful to Queensland Cricket for the opportunity, and that I was able to repay that faith they had in me."