Midway through his practice session on the eve of Qualifier 2 against Gujarat Titans, Rohit Sharma miscued a booming drive off a tall leg-spinner. It barely crossed the ring and the leggie had a smile on his face. Why wouldn’t he? He just made India and Mumbai Indians captain play a false stroke. But who is this leggie, was the instant thought.
Not long back, he was training with the Gujarat Titans team before bowling to Rohit and was bowling non-stop since the players reached Narendra Modi Stadium. Another tall player, wearing a Gujarat Cricket Association training kit and collecting balls near the boundary ropes, revealed that the leggie in action is “mera dost Thomas” (my friend Thomas). “Ye bahar rehta tha, ab yaha shaadi kar li aur yaha khelta hai (he used to live overseas and has been training in Ahmedabad after getting married here)”.
Interesting was the first reaction but it was only a little teaser into a story fit to become a Bollywood script. Later in the evening, when the training sessions of both sides had culminated, Thomas, after a long day, was walking back to the parking lot before he turned on hearing his name and was surprised when quizzed about his journey.
“How do you know all this,” he politely asked and then changed the training gear for a candid chat on his life, wife and love for cricket. Thomas Jones grew up in Kent, South England and played a lot of Academy cricket there before making the move to Scotland in search of better opportunities. Pre-season gigs with Yorkshire and Durham followed but his main focus was to make it to Scotland’s cricket team.
The tall leggie was putting in the hard yards for taking his cricket to the next level before a Gujarati girl, from Ahmedabad, entered his life and they fell in love. During that period, COVID-19 stalled all cricketing activities in the region and separated Thomas from both the game and his girlfriend. While there wasn’t any headway as far as cricket was concerned, Thomas followed his girlfriend to India, decided to get married and settle here and also pursue the cricketing dream.
“Coming from Scotland, living here in Ahmedabad, getting married to a Gujarati girl is a lot of fun. I love India a lot. Really happy to be here. I met her in Scotland and then COVID-19 happened so we got separated for a year and then I followed her here. Now it’s been a year and nine months since I have been here. We have been back once since we’ve been married here in India and Scotland too,” says Thomas in a chat with News18 CricketNext.
Ever since moving to India, Thomas continues to train with different clubs in the city to improve his game and finally got a big break when he approached Ashish Nehra and asked him if he could bowl to Gujarat Titans during their nets in Ahmedabad. The head coach agreed and Thomas joined the defending champs the very next day.
“Ashish bhai has been very accommodating, everyone has been very accommodating. It’s the most relaxed and professional environment I have ever been in. And I have only been there for not beyond 2-3 weeks. I came here and asked Ashish bhai if I can come (to bowl in nets) and the next day I was here,” says Thomas.
The learnings from GT stint
The youngster couldn’t have asked for a better set-up to get a taste of the IPL experience and picking the brains of people like Rashid Khan and the batters he has been bowling to has improved his skill set.
“Bowling here I have completely changed my bowling run-up. Small, small things you pick and then all the batters give commentary to you. You have to ask good questions after the session, during the session and stuff. The main thing I need to do is bowl quicker than I am bowling right now. I am bowling 88, which I guess is okay but I want to hit 90+,” says Thomas.
The interactions with Rashid too have had a massive impact on his game already and he considers himself “a lucky bloke” to be learning so much in just a few weeks.
“Second day I came here, I spoke to Rash. He spoke to me for 10-15 minutes about what lengths I should bowl – eight feet from the batters and stuff like this. Just small insights that make the biggest difference and you can’t ask to be in a better place. I come here four times a week, spend 6-7 hours with the team. So I am getting a lot of education and consider myself a lucky bloke. I am very lucky to be in an environment which accommodates people from outside also,” says Thomas.
From training with GT for a few weeks to bowling to Lucknow Super Giants when they were here for an away fixture, it’s been a dream come true for Thomas. And bowling to Rohit Sharma on Thursday was definitely a bucket list moment checked.
“It’s fun. Rohit played pretty well in the nets. That was a good challenge and the wicket was a little bit slow. Rohit is a big name. I count my lucky stars because I got to bowl to a player who changed cricket in lots of ways. A lot of opening batters back home in Scotland copy the way Rohit plays,” says Thomas.
CSK and Mike Hussey fan
Chennai Super Kings reached Ahmedabad on Friday and will turn up for an evening session on Saturday ahead of the big final on May 28. A big Mike Hussey fan, Thomas, after bowling to Rohit and a lot to Shubman Gill, wants to end the season on a real high by bowling to MS Dhoni.
“I remember watching the IPL back when I was 13-14 and actually was in love with Mike Hussey and CSK. I never met Mike but Rohit is definitely on the list of people you want to bowl to. And then people like Shubman Gill. Obviously, everyone would want someone like MS Dhoni. So, I have bowled to Shubman a lot, I bowled to Rohit and now only one left is CSK,” says Thomas.
Not sure who he meant but the leg-spinner is “very keen” to meet the “spin coach” at CSK. They don’t have a “spin coach” in their ranks but do have Dwayne Bravo as the bowling coach and Eric Simmons as the bowling consultant.
“I know the spin coach at CSK so I am very keen to talk to him about my run-up when they get here and my googly in particular because my googly is too slow at the moment. So I want to improve on that, maybe something about my front arm. I am interested to see what he says about that – my action and everything,” says Thomas.
New country, new goal
Thomas is in regular touch with top GCA officials and is likely to feature in the senior Gujarat team pre-season camp which begins soon. Awaiting his OCI card, the cricketer has now taken up the Ranji Trophy challenge and wants to become the first foreigner to play in a domestic competition in India.
“Since I have moved here, the goal and challenges have changed. Now the challenge is to play Ranji Trophy or the T20s or one-dayers in India and become the first foreign player to do so. Whatever they can give me, to be honest (laughs). Do well there for a couple of seasons and then become one of the names to be picked in the auction. You have to work incredibly hard and I am ready for it,” says Thomas.
Having slogged in the local circuit for a long time now, Thomas is in awe of the talent India has to offer.
“The biggest challenge is bowling leg-spin in Indian conditions which I feel is extremely difficult. The ball turns here a lot I know but I haven’t seen such talented players. Even in some club nets here, I can’t believe the shots some of the kids are playing,” says Thomas.
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