Bowling medium, thinking fast

Praveen’s life has hit the fast lane over the last three months — he still remembers how he used to pass off completely unnoticed, even in India, until his heroics in the one-dayer at Hobart.

From obscurity to the spotlight

“I don’t get it,” he says with a smile. “I didn’t get a single wicket in my first two matches and then, suddenly, I had 15 in my next five games. Even now, I have played four games for my employers but haven’t picked up a single wicket,” he said after playing a part in ONGC’s last-ball win over Air-India in the Goswami Ganesh Dutt final. Nowadays, he says, he finds it difficult to go anywhere unrecognised.

He’s not express pace, but he’s already gaining a reputation of being a ‘thinking’ bowler. So what is he thinking at the top of his mark?

“Honestly, I only think about bowling line and length, and escaping with a decent spell. Dimaag mein yeh hota hai ki 10 mein 30 run hi concede karoon, bas aur kuch nahi (In my mind, I think about bowling 10 overs for 30 runs, nothing else). I never think about bowling to get wickets, whatever I get I treat that as my incentive or bonus,” he says.

The big challenge

Praveen is now bracing up to what he calls the biggest test of his short international career so far. “This season, we are playing a lot in the sub-continent and it’s not going to be easy. Obviously, there will be less response from the pitch in comparison to Australia, but I am confident of being successful because I have the ability to swing the ball both ways. Dhaka was a good learning experience for me and I need to get back to the basics that got me so many wickets in the domestic season,” he says.

He is disappointed about one thing though — he hasn’t been able to showcase his batting prowess yet. “What can I do, all bowlers bowl to me either in the blockhole or right at my head. They never feed me in my zone so that I can hit some big ones,” he winks.

“On a more serious note, I need to get some scores under my belt, even if I’m only getting chances late in the innings. I know I can play some unorthodox shots and I just need one good innings to prove I am no pushover with the bat,” he says.

With the game done, he’s in a hurry to get back to Meerut. He might have made it to Delhi in an hour on an empty highway in the morning, but he knows the evening traffic will not allow him a free ride back. More roadblocks, more obstacles… much like the cricket that’s coming up over the next few months.