Chennai, May 1: Palani Amarnath has good reason to have the hit Bollywood song ‘kyun aaj kal neend kum khwab zyaada hai’ as his caller tune. The Tamil Nadu seamer has been living a dream as one half of a surprise success story of the IPL. The other half goes by the name of MS Gony. Together they form an unlikely fast-bowling pair, and with 13 wickets against their name in just four matches, their contribution to the Chennai Super Kings has been immense.

The 20-somethings make an odd couple. Amarnath is trying to learn Hindi words while Gony just can’t get a handle on Tamil (“It’s too complex. I can’t understand anything when I try seeing the local channels,” he says); Amarnath is skinny, Gony is your usual well-built Panjabi; and, Amarnath believes in line and length while Gony just wants to bowl fast. The one thing they have in common, however, is that they both started playing cricket by accident.

Gony recalls how, as a 12-year-old, he went to the stadium in Mohali to find out what a proper cricket pitch looks like and how the ball can be swung. “Surinder Singh Tikoo was inaugurating a cricket centre, and he looked at me and asked if I want to bowl. I was in my slippers but I just ran in and bowled as fast as I could. It swung a long way, I was really surprised. It was then that I realised I could move the ball naturally. He asked me if I want to play cricket, and that’s how my story began,” he says.

Amarnath’s tale is as interesting. He grew up in Vellore, studied Civil Engineering and worked for a construction company, appeasing his love for cricket with some casual tennis-ball overs once in a while. “In 2003, there was a speed contest for bowlers and I wanted to know how fast I could bowl. I had to wait in a long queue before I got my chance, and managed to bowl at 121 kmph. It was then I realised I could play some serious cricket too.”

Both Amarnath and Gony made their Ranji debuts this season, and rose to prominence simultaneously.

Amarnath played in the first-division league for two seasons, and was fast-tracked into Ranji team last year but didn’t get to play. He played Twenty20 though, and got his first shot of fame when he dismissed uprooted Sachin Tendulkar’s leg-stump. “It was great, I still remember that delivery in my mind,” he said.

Gony, meanwhile, is still waiting for his dream dismissal — c MS Dhoni b MS Gony. “I don’t know when it will come. That will be nice, I almost made it but the catch was dropped,” he says.

There is a twist in the Amarnath-Gony fairytale — tomorrow they will complete against one another for a slot in the playing XI against Delhi Daredevils with Makhaya Ntini and Albie Morkel almost certain to be picked. “It will be interesting,” they say in unison.