Jharkhand’s Shahbaz Nadeem is having another stellar season with the ball. The left-arm spinner was the highest wicket-taker previous year and has continued this trend this season too. In 9 matches so far, Nadeem has picked up 50 wickets at an average of 25.18. What makes this achievement even more praiseworthy is the fact that this season has been played at neutral venues where the pitches have favoured the batsmen more than the bowlers.
Nadeem picked up 11 wickets in the quarter-final match against Haryana was one of the main reasons behind Jharkhand’s march into the semi-finals. However, the man himself is hopeful that these performances won’t slip under the radar and the National selectors would take notice of his efforts, more so at a time when the Indian team is grappling with a number of injuries to the regular players.
The lanky bowler also sounded a tad frustrated at the lack of communication between National and state selectors.
“I do get frustrated, I am human too. But when you are doing well on the domestic circuit, the bowlers in the Indian team are also bowling very well. Luck is a big factor and the timing of your performance should be right,” Nadeem said.
“Generally when I am disappointed, I play more matches. If I am not capable enough [to get in] I should work more. I practice slightly less, but I will play even 20 matches in a month. I play throughout the year,” he further added. His comments come on a day when another left-arm spinner Axar Patel has been ruled out of the Indian ODI squad, and hence it would be interesting to see of the selectors take a punt and rope him into the squad.
The Delhi Daredevils spinner also conceded that players from the metro and larger cities tend to get more media coverage and as a result, their performances seem to be more prominent. Also, players from non-conventional centres can sometimes slip under the scanner.
“When you play from a metro city, the media does cover you more. But more than the media, if you perform well, you deserve a chance,” Nadeem said.
However, Nadeem is not one to go down without a fight and believes that he is confident in his abilities which would force the selectors to take account of him sooner rather than later.
“The peak of a player doesn’t last forever but I have time. I am still 27 and if I play the same way for one or two more seasons, you never know. This is my motivation. If the door doesn’t open, I will break it open. I am right now knocking. Next time I will break it,” Nadeem claimed.
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