Tajinder Dhillon: Unshackled at MI New York

Just ahead of the MLC domestic draft earlier this year, Tajinder Singh Dhillon, 33, had a choice to make. He could either settle for a third consecutive season as a peripheral figure with the San Francisco Unicorns where he had faced just 21 balls in total across two years from the lower order or he could break free from the shadows, unshackle himself from being an afterthought. Chance his luck with a new team willing to back his batting pedigree. Allow him opportunities to command centre stage with his phenomenal talent.

It wasn't just a cricketing decision for a family man blessed with a newborn. Tajinder could take refuge in a $55,000 retainer and remain an invisible bystander at the Unicorns. Or risk it all for a shot at the stage he had moved to America. A stage with flashbulbs and spotlight, the kind he once chased in the IPL where he warmed the bench for two seasons with two different teams.

But the Sardar from Dholpur, Rajasthan, wasn't built to fade into the background. Having risen late through the ranks in India's unforgiving domestic system, Tajinder wasn't about to trade in his ambition for comfort. So he threw his hat into the domestic draft ring. Fully aware that it might mean being left unsold and facing financial uncertainty in a country where income for cricketers outside the MLC calendar isn't always guaranteed.

Once Tajinder was a free agent, MI New York management didn't need a second invitation to bring their former asset back to the fold. He had previously been auctioned to their parent franchise, Mumbai Indians, in the 2019 IPL before MINY narrowly missed to lock him in the 2023 MLC draft. He enjoyed the confidence of the team management at the start of the season. He impressed with his short bursts but a knock that would announce his arrival remained elusive.

Promoted to number 4 for the first time in his short MLC career against the Orcas on Friday, Tajinder pounced onto that opportunity like a hungry, caged lion would on his prey. He started cautiously, trudging to 5 off 9 deliveries as if to line up his prey. What followed was total mayhem as he made mincemeat of the Orcas bowlers. He hammered 6 sixes in a span of 7 deliveries during his brutal innings of 95 off 35.

So emphatic was his ball-striking that it momentarily cast a rampaging Nicholas Pooran to the second fiddle role in their marathon partnership of 158. Pooran, who finished unbeaten on a majestic hundred at a strike rate of 180, found his innings eclipsed by Tajinder who himself was going at a strike rate of 271.

Anil Kumble, the then head coach at Punjab Kings once remarked during an open net session, "Tajinder can hit a spinner for six off his very first ball - even if he's half asleep at 4 a.m." And that uncanny ability was in full display the way he toyed around with Raza. He took him for three sixes in three balls. One came via a whip over deep midwicket despite being off balance, the second was a graceful lift over extra cover from the back foot. And the last one was clubbed with authority over the bowler's head as he stood and admired the distance the ball had travelled. Tajinder is one of the select few domestics with an ability to clear the ropes off the back foot in the 'V' against spin bowling.

Tajinder's story is of perseverance and delayed recognition. An invisible character who was in real danger of being consigned to the sidelines to finally have his moment in the sun. Vindicating the punt he took on none other than himself right before the draft.