For Siddharth Trivedi, a career that seemed to be heading nowhere is suddeny looking up again. Trivedi had first shot into the limelight when he picked up nine wickets in seven games at the ICC under-19 World Cup in early 2002. That performance was followed by a call-up for the Challenger Trophy the following year. But the script went horribly wrong after that, and with a clutch of young fast bowlers fighting each other for available slots in the India line-up, a few niggles from time to time pushed the medium pacer out of focus. His domestic performance never sunk into any kind of depths, but it never rose out of relative obscurity either. “I don’t know what happened after that golden run. But that’s in the past. Now it’s just my present and future,” the 25-year-old told The Indian Express.IPL effectThe future certainly looks brighter than it did a month-and-a-half ago, for the 25-year-old was among those forgotten hopefuls who used the IPL to bulldoze their ways back into the limelight. He picked up 13 wickets from 15 matches in the Jaipur team’s title-winning run, and more importantly, showed enough variation to catch the eyes of the selectors, who picked him for the Emerging Players’s Tournament in Australia. “The IPL was a big platform for me, the biggest event of my life,” Trivedi said. “I have done well in the last two-three domestic seasons, but my performances went largely unnoticed. Now that the selectors have taken note and vested responsibility in me, I will try to deliver at a higher level,” said the nippy medium pacer.Improved confidenceThe league has also boosted his cricketing skills, while improving his confidence, he says. “I have learnt to handle pressure better. (Shane) Warne was a real inspiration, a motivator. He told me when to bowl which delivery and to which batsman. He saw video footage of my Ranji games and asked me to keep mixing up my deliveries. That was my role. Warne was like an elder brother,” said the Gujarat bowler. He also made full use of the kind of facilities seldom seen at the domestic level, picking the brains of a pedigreed support staff that included Darren Berry, Jeremy Snape and John Gloster. “The atmosphere was so professional. The support staff was the backbone of the success of the team. We have gained a lot from them. “The lessons will help me in my career. They taught us how to mentally prepare for a game, how to minimise extras, how to increase the number of good deliveries,” Trivedi says.“There is still a long way to go. But I am glad that the first step is taken after a period of obscurity.”
