All for a losing cause

Kumar8217;s latest came during the ongoing match against Vidarbha that spearheaded the visitors8217; paltry 151 in the first innings8211; his fourth five-for in as many matches.

Kumar doesn8217;t relish the enormity of the feat 8212; it8217;s tentatively being termed as a record, although not yet confirmed. He8217;s disappointed for not ending up on the right side of the result despite his figures.

8220;It started with my debut against Assam last year. Then against Vidarbha, I got another five-for with a match total of eight wickets. The next came against Tripura in the first game this season. I don8217;t know whether it8217;s a record or not but with the team losing each of those matches, it8217;s a bit disappointing for sure,8221; says the 25-year old.

Skipper Sumeet Tomar readily discards the for-a-losing-cause argument saying, 8220;If anybody does well with the bat or the ball and the team lose due to the poor performances of the rest, you can8217;t discount his contribution. After all, when you do well, you don8217;t do it so that your team lose.8221;

Interestingly, Kumar says he had never bowled with a leather ball until he joined the Indian Navy six years back. 8220;I used to play tennis ball cricket in Sikar his hometown in Rajasthan and joined the Navy through entrance exam in 2002. I used to stay with Krishna Chadra former services player and occasionally gave him knocking. He liked the way I bowled and told me to meet the coach Raghuvir Singh Jhala. I went for the trials and got selected for the Navy team. But there was no vacancy for a pacer in the playing eleven,8221; recalls Kumar.

8220;In 2005 I played my first one-dayer for Navy. On debut, I was economic but wicket-less. In 2006, I was again picked for the limited-over team, but missed the Ranji squad. In 2007, I finally made it.8221;

Navy coach Raghuvir Singh Jhala, who is also joint-coach of the Services team, calls this so-near-yet-so-far phase a training period for Kumar who was a better volleyball player than cricketer initially. 8220;I first saw him playing volleyball at one of our camps. Then a batsman Krishna Chadra told me about his abilities and brought him to the nets. It8217;s his action and the rise he extracted off the pitch that surprised me. Then he underwent a training of one-and-a-half years.

8220;Now he8217;s become the main bowler of the Services team and can move the ball on any kind of wicket. His back-spin release is an asset for a swing bowler,8221; says Jhala.

Adding to the last point Vidarbha skipper Pritam Gandhe recollects the way Kumar almost single-handedly wrecked his team last year. 8220;Initially, he looked to pitch the ball on a certain spot and once he found it, he started working on the swing. He moved it both ways, confusing the batsmen,8221; approves Gandhe.

It must have been a deacute;jagrave; vu for the Vidarbha batsmen when they again found Kumar almost unplayable in the first innings. But they can take heart in the fact that while Kumar stretches his five-for streak, Services seem all set to maintain their losing record.