CLT20 2014: Pragyan Ojha working on a new variation

Pragyan Ojha

Indian left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has thrown light on the fact that he is working on a new variation to keep the batsmen guessing. The bowler will be seen in action for the Mumbai Indians in the Champions League T20 tournament. In an interview with CLT20’s official website, Ojha admitted that he is in the beginning stages of a variation to add more value to his skills. He talked about bowling, on helpful seniors, and on Mumbai Indians.

Variation

Replying to the question on whether he is trying out any innovations in his bowling, the Hyderabadi cricketer said: “I am trying to change my grip and just to confuse the batsman I am trying to work on a few deliveries, but it is all still in the preliminary stage”.

With him being taken to cleaners in the last IPL season, Ojha’s thought on developing a variation is understandable. When queried more on his training: “Recently I have been working with Anil [Kumble] bhai and all of them but sometimes I speak to Murali Kartik because I feel he is one of the best left-arm spinners around right now. I work with our Ranji Trophy cricketers. When we go out and we bowl, we see each others’ bowling and then analyse.

“If I want to understand any batsman’s psychology then I also talk to [VVS] Laxman bhai who is ready to advice me on aspects other than cricket as well,” he further added.

The seasoned campaigner did not enjoy a fruitful IPL last time around, but, the purple cap winner of IPL 2010 is not complaining.

“I think this is a fast paced tournament and ups and downs will always there,” the man with six T20 international caps said. “But yes, I didn’t quite bowl well in patches in the IPL. I am doing what I have been doing all these years. For the last six-seven years I have been performing in this tournament and I know there is no guarantee that you will always succeed,” he reasoned.

On Anil Kumble’s role as mentor

Speaking on his training stint with leg-spinning great Anil Kumble for MI, Ojha called those periods as quality time.

“We had a very fruitful camp in Bangalore a few days back. We did a lot of training. I always look forward to working with Anil bhai (Kumble). Because of the amount of experience that he has got, there is something that you will always like to get from him. It was a great experience for me.

“We were working on certain things like variations that we can do and how we can outsmart the batsmen. These are the few things that you keep on working with these guys. When they give you time, it is quality and you have to make most out of it,” he mentioned.

“He keeps things very simple and tells me not to complicate my cricket and keep working hard,” the soon to be 28-year-old said on Kumble’s advice.

On Mumbai Indians

His team will be defending their CLT20 crown this season after winning the final of the 2013 edition against Rajasthan Royals. The side dramatically reached the IPL 7 playoffs from a highly improbable situation due to a better net run-rate. The Indians chased down 190 in 14.5 overs against the same opponents to qualify for the CLT20. Speaking on the Rohit Sharma led-side, Ojha told that they enjoy each other’s success.

“I think we have a great side. This is one team where I felt that everyone is backing each other which is one of our biggest strengths. And the other one is, everybody who is playing in the team really wants to win, they are not playing just to do good for their own self. Last year too we had a fantastic season because everybody was looking to win and they believed that they could,” he concluded.