Stephen Wiig roars to redemption

Stephen Wiig roars to redemption

It had all the makings of a lamb-to-the-slaughter scenario. The big, strapping Alex Hales, kept unusually quiet on 13 off 14 was eyeing the fifth over of the powerplay, the moment when batters typically go gung ho. The stage seemed set for him to feast on Stephen Wiig, a lesser-known, innocuous-looking domestic left-arm seamer.

Hales promptly dispatched the first two slot balls out of the ground, shifting gears into full rampage mode. Looking to extract more meat from the over, he went after a third. Wiig bowled the third one a shade fuller and cranked up his fastest delivery of the game. The ball kissed the toe end of Hales' bat and ballooned safely into the hands of mid-off. Wiig let out an uncharacteristically mighty roar. A triumphant cry from a bowler who had just hauled in the biggest catch of his career.

This wasn't just a celebration. It was a counterpunch. A defiant burst of emotion, not merely in response to the two balls Hales had launched into orbit moments earlier, but to everything Wiig had endured in the shadows of anonymity. Relentlessly grinding away with his robot-like routines living in a rented basement in New Jersey far away from his parents living in Florida, Wiig didn't stop there. He came back in his second over to pin Saif Badar right in front, surprising him by being on the money. Born to an Indian mother and a caucasian father, Wiig's spell of 2 for 25 off 3 overs broke the back of the LA Knight Riders chase.

"His work ethics have always been top notch," said USA vice captain Jasdeep Singh and his captain at the NJ Stallions in MiLC. "I know an instance where a few young folks at Stallions planned on going to an amusement park the next day after the game but Wiig refused to join them as he knew the day after the game means it's time for recovery by going to the gym and pool sessions. If I told him he needs to come to the ground at 7 am for some spot bowling, he'd be there on time and bowl those 10-12 overs without fail. And he'd only step into the net after proper drills and warm up. The boring part that people ignore."

Wiig first created a stir in 2021, claiming 27 wickets in 17 games under Jasdeep's tutelage. A promising young talent at the time, Jasdeep took him under his wings to teach the finer nuances of fast bowling. Often stationed at mid-off, he would guide Wiig through specific match-ups, suggesting what deliveries to bowl and adjusting the field accordingly. "Giving plans is one thing," Jasdeep reflected, "but executing them is another. And he nailed them every single time."

Wiig had always chased national honors. But hovering in the mid-120s on the speed radar, he was found wanting during the national championships in early 2024. That tournament proved to be a turning point. It was then that Jasdeep made him confront a hard truth: to succeed at the professional level, he'd need to break the 130 km/h barrier and consistently operate in the mid-130s to truly trouble top-tier batters.

Jasdeep, who himself had ramped up his own pace over the past two years, became the ideal sounding board for Wiig and helped him rewire his approach. Within a few months, Wiig breached the 130 km/h mark and went on to become the highest wicket-taker in the 50-over national championships. A performance that earned him a well-deserved national call-up earlier this year.

"He always asked me what I need to do more to be in the national side. Then I told him you have to add a little bit of body mass, and offcourse some pace. He didn't have access to bowling coaches and physios either. I would share my workouts and we are always training together whenever I am in NJ. He was breaking down a lot with a wiry physique. Stephen has bulked up now if you look at him. He doesn't get injured with more mass on his body now. He was hesitant when lifting heavy but i convinced him that you aren't playing that much cricket you aren't at a risk to injure your body with the heavy lifting.

"When I grew up there was no one professional cricketer around to wrap his shoulder around me and tell me about the game. I learnt everything after committing mistakes. Don't want Stephen to commit those same mistakes that would set him back in his career."