Bishan Bedi pleased to see Pragyan Ojha bowling in short sleeves

Pragyan Ojha

South Zone might have lost a thrilling final against Central Zone by 9 runs, but Pragyan Ojha and few others gained more than just bowling overs and scoring a few runs in the middle. The left-arm spinner, along with fellow teammates KL Rahul, Baba Aparajith and leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal had the chance to meet legendary spinner Bishan Singh Bedi, who had come to the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi on Sunday to witness the final day proceedings of the Duleep Trophy Final.

The youngsters were also accompanied by South Zone coach Hemang Badani and were all ears to Bedi.

Word of praise for Ojha and Rahul

The 68-year old spoke with the players and had a word of praise for Ojha, whose bowling action had come under the scanner and was seen bowling with half-sleeves on.

"I laud Pragyan for wearing half-sleeves while bowling. It is a brave attitude indeed I must say. He (Pragyan) knew where he was going wrong all along but he is working on it. I wish him all the best," Bedi said.

He also praised KL Rahul, who scored centuries in each innings of the match and hoped that the Karnataka batsman would represent India for a long time.

"I watched Rahul's centuries on television. I wanted to personally congratulate him. He is a fine young player and I am hopeful that he will serve Indian cricket for a long time,” the 68-year old said.

Youngsters different these days

Bedi, who picked up 266 wickets in 67 Tests for India, also added that today’s youngsters were a lot more open for advice from ex-cricketers.

“Youngsters nowadays are far more receptive and mature than earlier years. It was a good session and we spoke on various aspects of the game," he said.

The players, later on, said that they had benefited from the session with him and realised where they errored in the chase.

"Bedi sir dissected what went wrong during our chase and the mistakes that we made on the final day. The wicket was keeping low," Ojha said.