Scripting a turnaround

Ojha reveals how a little help from Dravid,Laxman helped him stage a comeback

After he was left out for the ODI series against New Zealand at home last year,Pragyan Ojha faced an uncertain future. Valuable advice came his way after he picked the brains of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Dravid had told Ojha to take the pace off the arm ball,while Laxman advised him to vary his speed when bowling flighted deliveries.

While Ojha hasnt played a one-dayer since then,he is happy that he has developed the art of taking wicket with the flighted ball. His 20 wickets in the just concluded Test series at home against the West Indies also helped him seal his place for the tour of Australia.

Till last year,Ojha was involved in a game of musical chairs with leg-spinner Amit Mishra for the second spinners slot in Tests. He had been dropped from one-dayers after the selectors opted for part-timers Ravindra Jadeja and Yusuf Pathan.

Ojha got the opportunity to try out the advice given by Laxman and Dravid when he played for Surrey while scripting a comeback. Earlier,like any youngster I was slightly impatient and wanted to take wickets off every ball, Ojha said on Saturday,having played a major role in Indias 2-0 win over the West Indies.

Im not the kind of bowler who has many variations. That is why no drastic changes were needed. I went to England where I tried new things such as a slower arm ball and also varied my pace,both tips given to me by Laxman and Dravid. I learnt how spinners can take five wickets, he added.

While away from the Indian team,Ojha said that he kept in touch with Anil Kumble and Venkatapathy Raju and constantly sought their advice.

And when the West Indies series happened,Ojha got the chance of trying all those weapons that he had perfected on the county circuit.

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Playing on sub-continental tracks,Ojha knew that he would get some assistance,even when he was asked to bowl with the new ball during the first Test match at the Ferozeshah Kotla. Even when the West Indian batsmen charged at him,he kept flighting the ball,inviting them to take a risk.

This series has turned out to be the most important of my career. I wanted to take wickets off deliveries which had loop and flight and that happened. When you see batsman beaten in air and getting stumped,its the most satisfying sight, he added.

The series also saw Ojha becoming the quickest left-arm spinner to take 50 wickets in Tests. However,Ojha insisted that the real challenge would be in Australia. I dont want to be successful only on Indian soil. For me the real Test will be on Australian tracks,where the conditions will not be in my favour, he said.

Not for the first time Ojha will find the odds stacked against him. This time,though,he seems to be looking forward to the challenge.

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Ojha among top 15
New Delhi: Pragyan Ojha on Sunday broke into the top 15 of the ICC rankings for the first time in his career following a strong show against the West Indies in the third Test,in which he took seven wickets.

He jumped 11 places to 15th place,ahead of Australias Peter Siddle. However,India paceman Ishant Sharma slipped three places to 20th position. Out of action pacer Zaheer Khan remained static at number six.

Meanwhile,India continued to be the second placed in team rankings but at 118 points closed the gap with England at the top of the table to seven points.