I’m glad I stuck with spin: Ojha

As a young boy, Pragyan Ojha had announced that he was going to be a left-arm spinner.

As a young boy, Pragyan Ojha had announced that he was going to be a left-arm spinner. And the voices of protest had rung out. His friends and family members said that bowling spin was the most boring part of cricket, and that he should become a batsman or a fast bowler. “They told me I will never become famous,” recalls Ojha.

Almost 11 years later, as cricket fans in the land of spin are conjuring up images of Ojha bowling in tandem with Piyush Chawla — his under-19 and India A team mate — in the forthcoming tri-series in Bangladesh and the Asia Cup in Pakistan, the voices of dissent are now a distant memory for the 21-year-old.

“I can still remember most of the people in my school advocating that I should concentrate on fast bowling due to my height. It still feels like a dream but I’m happy that finally I didn’t change, and have now made it to the Indian team,” says an excited Ojha. “A lot of things changed after the India A tour to Kenya and Zimbabwe in September last year.”

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The indelible image of the tour was the talented left-arm-spinner picking up five wickets against Sri Lanka A in a league match. He finished the series with 29 wickets, and followed up that performance with a match-winning haul of eight wickets in Delhi against a South Africa A side that had international players such as Hashim Amla, Ashwell Prince and Boeta Dippenaar.

“The India A tour was a landmark in my career. It propelled me into the international arena, where I was able to play against different opposition at various places. It really helped me to add variety and variation in my bowling,” he says.

“Most of the players in the South African side were very supportive and were always eager to exchange notes with me during that tour. Even inputs from Adam Gilchrist, Chaminda Vaas and Herschelle Gibbs during the Indian Premier League have been quite helpful. Though Deccan Chargers did badly in the tournament, the stint helped me,” says Ojha, who picked up 11 wickets at an average of 25.81 in the IPL.

Pragyan makes no attempt to hide his excitement as he relays his thoughts on bowling in tandem with Chawla, with whom he has been bowling from their under-19 days. “We exchanged text messages this afternoon congratulating each other. We’ve been together for so long, and it helps both of us when we bowl together.”