By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, May 30
HIS heroics for Vidarbha in domestic circuit and a small but impressive show in IPL fetched him a place in India A squad for England Tour and 22-year-old Harsh Dubey is ready for some ‘English Lessons.’
Left-arm spinner Dubey has bamboozled batters all over the country breaking the record for most wickets (69) in a Ranji Trophy season earlier this year.
A call by Sunrisers Hyderabad as a replacement bowler helped him show his ability in white ball cricket too as he took five wickets from three games which included the scalps of Lucknow Super Giants’ Mitchell Marsh, RCB and India Test legend Virat Kohli, KKR’s Rinku Singh, Andre Russell and Ramandeep Singh.
Dubey proclaimed his arrival in the IPL!
Job Done. Selectors Impressed. Ticket to England.
India A would be playing two First-Class matches against England A Lions starting Friday at Canterbury. Dubey, in his own words, “Will take this opportunity to learn the nuances of ‘international’ red ball cricket.”
Talking to ‘The Hitavada’ over phone from Kent, the spinner said he would try to give his best whenever he steps into the field. “It’s a great opportunity. The wicket would definitely help pacers, as always. But whenever I get a chance, when the sun is beating down and pacers won’t be getting that much help from the pitch, the spinners’ role will come into play. I would try to give my best and keep it simple.”
On Dukes balls with which cricket is played in England, Dubey said, “I didn’t find much difference between SG and Dukes balls. The Dukes balls are a bit harder and a bit slippery initially. There is hardly any difference.”
On how he will take the two matches, if he gets a chance, Dubey said he would try to keep it simple and won’t make any wholesome changes.
“I had a chat with SRH coach Daniel Vettori and India great Kohli on how to go with plans in England and they both said to keep it simple and stick to the plan. I would be doing the same,” said Dubey.
The Vidarbha spinner was praised by Vettori and India spin great Anil Kumble calling him a ‘clever’ bowler.
“Dubey understands conditions well, understands how he needs to bowl, and can mix it up. I suppose we were desperate for that little bit of control, and he’s been able to do that in all three games he’s played.
“The great thing for him is that between now and the next IPL, he’s going to play a lot of cricket, whether it’s for India A or his domestic team. He’s going to get a huge amount of opportunities, so we believe he can grow as a bowler and also as a batter, because the batting part of him was a big part of our decision-making too,” Vettori had said during a press conference after their last IPL league match.
Kumble too lavished praise on Dubey after the spinner’s three wickets against KKR.
Speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s ‘Time Out show’ Kumble said, “He’s (Dubey) giving it a tweak, that’s the start. And when you do that, you certainly get a bit of drift. And, more importantly, it goes off the surface that much quicker. And that’s something that we see in Harsh Dubey.”
Kumble said it would be interesting to see how consistent Dubey will be in his coming days.
“Consistency is what matters. And that’s something he has shown in domestic cricket by getting wickets. And this is a great opportunity to be part of the India A squad,” Kumble said on Dubey’s possible future as a Test cricketer.
Dubey has passed the ‘Board’ (domestic) exam with flying colours. Now, it’s time to learn ‘English lessons’ and ‘graduate’ (for Tests) in Old Blighty.
No comments:
Post a Comment