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Sporting wickets needed: Prabhakar

Nandakumar Marar

MUMBAI: Manoj Prabhakar, bowling coach of Ranji Trophy Super League champion Delhi, emphasised the necessity for sporting wickets in first-class cricket before India can expect to produce quality fast bowlers from domestic competitions.

“We need tracks, like the one prepared at the Wankhede for the Ranji final, all over India. Then our exceptional talents will perform on the bouncy wickets abroad.”

Praises Praveen

He categorised Praveen Kumar as an exceptional talent, after watching the Uttar Pradesh strike bowler operate with the new ball in the final,which ended on Saturday with a nine-wicket win for Delhi.

“The time to select him is now. Praveen is young and so will be eager to learn quickly about a fast bowler’s requirements at the international level,” said the former India swing bowler.

In the absence of a specialist spinner, Delhi banked on the fast and medium-pace bowlers, guided by Prabhakar who enjoyed the opportunity of passing on his experience in making use of the new ball and craft of swing bowling on Indian wickets.

Fast tracked

Ishant Sharma and Pradeep Sangwan made an impact in the Ranji Trophy, the former was fast tracked into the Indian Test squad and the latter for the India U-19 side touring South Africa.

“There were certain aspects to be worked on jointly and individually, because they were a left-right combination (Ishant a right-hander and Sangwan a southpaw).

“I noticed Ishant bowling away from the wicket, so focused on getting him to bowl close.

“Sangwan’s non-bowling arm was slanting down, making his bowling arm come down across,” said Prabhakar.

Continuous process

Ishant came across as a quick learner on the Australian wickets, troubling established batsmen with steep bounce and late movement.

“Once you graduate to international cricket, the learning process has to be continuous. Ishant is showing those qualities now,” noted the Delhi coach.

Sangwan and Sumeet Narwal used the new ball efficiently in the final against U.P., supported by Amit Bhandari and Rajat Bhatia in both innings.

“I have never seen a sporting wicket at Mumbai like this one (prepared by curator Sudhir Naik, ex-India Test opener) in my entire playing career.

“One look at the track and I told my bowlers to make full use of the track and produce at least one five-wicket haul.”

Sangwan’s five for 56 in the second innings wrecked U.P., while Bhandari, Narwal and Bhatia shared four wickets.

Striking in tandem

Sangwan, who along with Narwal took four wickets each in the first innings, usually shares the new ball with Ishant.

“Ishant is fast and takes wickets from one end, I do the same from the other end. Together we trouble the batsmen,” quipped the India U-19 left-armer, who surprised the batsmen with the incoming ball.

Referring to the art of swing bowling, Prabhakar felt that India’s bowlers should know how to make the ball move.

“I observed a certain India bowler gripping the ball so tight that there was no way he could make it swing. You need a relaxed grip and release it properly to make the ball move. Of course pace and seam position are important,” he said complimenting the BCCI for preparing a sporting wicket, worthy of a Ranji Trophy final.

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