Ojha hopes for favourable turn of luck

It has been exactly four and half months since Pragyan Ojha last played for India. And the 22-year-old left-arm spinner...

It has been exactly four and half months since Pragyan Ojha last played for India. And the 22-year-old left-arm spinner,who has played five ODIs,knows the upcoming Sri Lanka tour could prove to be career defining.

Even though I did not get a chance to play against England,the fact that I was in the squad helped me bond with the players and understand the kind of effort needed to deliver when it is required, Ojha said from Hyderabad after the selectors retained him for the Sri Lanka series with Harbhajan Singh sidelined due to a hamstring injury.

More importantly,Ojha will be the only specialist spinner in the 15-member squad with new face Ravindra Jadeja,Yusuf Pathan,Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag expected to don the supporting spinners role.

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Harbhajan has been a terrific bowler and I have learnt a lot from him. He keeps things very tight at one end and bowling along with him allows a youngster to bowl without pressure,try and go for wickets. I am looking at this opportunity to deliver and seal my place in the XI,and this will be a big responsibility for me. Along with the likes of Jadeja and Pathan,we hope to form a formidable combination in the series, said Ojha.

Ojhas career is again taking him to Sri Lanka and he expects to gain from past experience. I have played two out of five ODIs in my career in Sri Lanka and I read the conditions well during the last tour. The conditions support spin bowling there and I almost have on-the-job experience of every single venue, he said.

With Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma in full swing,though,it has to be seen how much the spinners come into the picture. I just messaged Zaheer and Ishant joking that if they carry their form in Sri Lanka also,we spinners might not be needed, Ojha said.

Nitin Sharma

Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story ‘Harmans of Moga’, Nitin has also been a two-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022 and 2023 respectively. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women’s cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin’s interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More

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