On Day 2, teams speed dial, put batsmen off key
Puneet Datey is mobbed after picking up a Bengal wicket. He and Ishwar Pandey rocked the Bengal innings, giving MP a huge first innings lead. (Express Photo by: Kevin d’Souza)
CHANDRAKANT SUKARE is used to turning heads in Madhya Pradesh with his raw pace, but instead wants to develop into a bowler who can move the ball. Puneet Datey has a bowling action, which is resplendent in its aesthetic appeal, starting with a run-up that’s fluid in motion, a leap that is almost equine and a strong wrist position that will leave any bowling coach gushing. But he wants to be known more as a bowler who simply takes lots of wickets.
Krishna Das neither has the pace nor the most attractive bowling action. But he swings the ball appreciably in both directions. And after a watershed season where he’s swung Assam’s fortunes around, literally, to the tune of 47 wickets and counting, everyone in the domestic circuit knows about it now.
Datey, 21, is in his third year, Sukare, 25, his first — in fact he made his first-class debut at CCI against Bengal. And both Madhya Pradesh seamers are desperate to make a mark. They have if anything played supporting if not fringe roles in their team’s progress into the knockouts this season. Das has been Assam’s story of the year — a decade after he made his first appearance for his state as a 15-year-old.
On the second day of the Ranji quarterfinals at Valsad, the 25-year-old proved a nemesis for the umpteenth opponent, rocking Punjab with another spell of enticing swing bowling. But for once he wasn’t the solo star, as a couple of other Das’s, Arup and Pallavkumar, joined in the show and shared the spoils.
Over at the CCI, meanwhile, Datey and Sakure enjoyed their own little hunting trip, led by the seasoned Ishwar Pandey, to rout Bengal for a paltry 121 and more or less seal the semifinal spot for Madhya Pradesh. It proved to be a pacer’s day out across the board, as fast bowlers, well-known and unknown, battle-hardened and wet-behind-the-ears, came to the fore. If at Vizianagram, it was Test regular Umesh Yadav bringing some respectability to Vidarbha in their clash against Saurashtra with a five-wicket haul, Ashoke Dinda and Veer Pratap Singh were the only positives for Bengal on a forgettable day in Mumbai with seven wickets between them. And by the end of the day in Valsad, India’s new ODI find, Barinder Sran had brought Punjab back into the match with a three-wicket burst in extra time.
The Bengal rout
THE CCI pitch had a green tinge from before the game, and it has retained it over the first two days. But it’s not one where fast bowlers can just roll their arm over and expect the ball to do tricks. They need to make it happen. They need to hit it hard. They need to bend their backs. And it took Pandey three overs to realize that. For the first three overs with the new-ball, the MP seamer, who enjoyed a significant stint warming the bench in the Indian dressing-room last year, seemed to be in cruise mode and hardly made an impact. Then with the first delivery of his fourth bowler, he got the ball to explode off the wicket and cut Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran in half, figuratively speaking. His follow-through took him almost till the middle of the pitch, giving away the effort he’d put into that particular delivery. He was a changed bowler from that ball onwards, and not only did he start troubling the Bengal batsmen more, Pandey also started knocking them off. He got rid of both the big names, Manoj Tiwary and Wriddhiman Saha, in the opposition line-up with deliveries that rushed them into false strokes.
Earlier in the day, Dinda had kind of shown the way by running in hard and sling-shotting deliveries on the hard pitch. But he does that anyway. It’s easy to dismiss Dinda off as a workhorse, but such is his bowling action—like a horse galloping in full steam and often losing its way—unlike Pandey who is more measured and elegant in his gait, and a smooth release at the bowling mark.Dinda and Pandey have been in and out of the Indian squad. For them each match is not just an outing to impress, it’s more about making a statement to the selectors.
While Pandey took his time, Datey seemed to have found his mark on the pitch from his first over. He kept hitting the length, just short of what you term as ‘driving range’, and dragging the batsman forward. He had Sayan Mondal dropped in his first over at slip but got his man, with a terrific delivery that pitched and smashed into the top of his stumps. He would get Easwaran too with a sharp in-cutter later in his spell, and Pankaj Shaw would fall to the same kind of ball, his bails being knocked off. Datey has been earmarked for success in MP from a young age, and apart from his action—for which he claims to receive rave reviews from all quarters—he’s coming into his own with each season.
Unlike Sukare, who didn’t take to serious cricket till he was 18. Till then an engineering degree is what he was most interested in though he did know to run in fast and hurl the ball to the other end as rapidly as be could. The son of a government teacher, the right-armer though has developed a lot more nous to his bowling as he showed against Bengal. He got rid of mainstay Sudip Chatterjee with a quick bouncer, while getting Shreyas Goswami and Dinda with fuller deliveries that moved off the wicket.
Das automaton
Being a swing bowler can be quite a hassle in India. How many ever times you knockout an opposition, you always have to share the credit with the pitch. It’s unlikely the pitch will not be mentioned as a disclaimer for your achievement. It’s like you are a pro-wrestler who apparently cannot win a bout without any outside interference—say from a valet or manager.
And the only thing you can do is to keep taking wickets, which Das has done rather remarkably this season. He’s gone about his business almost like an automaton, delivering for his team like a pre-set model who just goes about his business in any condition that comes his way. His three wickets included Mandeep Singh and Gurkeerat Singh, two regulars in the domestic circuit, feathers to a cap that is burgeoning with plaudits in this remarkable season.
