NEWS
MATCH REPORTS
DIARY
OTHER SPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
PEOPLE
ARCHIVES

14 balls, 5 wickets for no run

Saisuresh Sivaswamy at Chepauk

For India's Venkatesh Prasad, who finished the third day's play with career best figures of 6 for 33, his achievement is still to sink in. "Everything happened so fast, it is still a shock for me," the tall Karnataka quickie said after play.

And yes, that the magic of the post-tea session, in which Prasad took five wickets over 18 deliveries without conceding a single run, is yet to sink in is apparent from his statement that he thinks it is his best performance ever. The only other time he bagged six wickets in an innings was against England, when he conceded 113 runs or so.

Thanks to his charged performance, the match he says is "evenly poised". "We have great batting depth, so we have good chances of making the required runs."

Prasad, who was obviously electrified to a new high when he was bowling that fourth spell -- in the previous two he had been taken off after bowling just one over apiece -- says he felt just the same. "I was bowling just the same as I have always bowled, so I guess I just got a little lucky," he chuckled. "But yeah, everything turned upside down with that, I got back my rhythm, and I was bowling on the spot."

About the interruption in his spell, when he was yanked off, there is no bitterness in him while looking back. "The wicket had slowed down, and Kumble had bowled well, as had Srinath. So obviously it was considered good for the team to have them continue."

The fact that he had not been among the wickets in the first innings did not bother him overmuch, he said. "There was nothing on my mind when I was bowling today. The ball was swinging reverse, so all I was doing was mixing inswingers and outswingers right." It also helped that the ball was a bit old, and Prasad agrees that a slightly older ball has a little shine, which helps in swinging it both ways. "It is better than a new ball."

While conceding that Rahul Dravid's outstanding left-handed catch in the slips to dismiss Salim Malik off Joshi turned the tide, Prasad said it should not, however, take the credit away from the Pakistan team. "They still had excellent batting depth, Moin who was among the runs in the first innings was still there, as was Afridi. So when I came on to bowl after that, I guess I just bowled at the right spot."

Among his five victims in that magic post-tea spell, Prasad does not hesitate to rank Moin's dismissal as the most cherished one. "I had bowled on the right spot, and on this wicket getting him out caught behind was particularly satisfying for me."

He repeated there was no great variation in his bowling today, and that he was bowling just the same as he had bowled in the previous games as well. "I guess I was plain unlucky not get any results," he smiled.

Prasad, who had taken five wickets on a few occasions before Saturday, said the feat against Pakistan was a "challenge".

There was no assistance from the wicket whatsoever today, Prasad said "Yesterday there was some help for spinners, but by today the pitch had eased off, and it was a good batting wicket." Which was one reason Prasad felt that the Pakistanis were taking chances with the bat today.

Asked if today's performance would set to rest doubts in certain quarters about his bowling arm, Prasad shrugged off a reply, and said it never bothered him. "There is nothing wrong with me, so why should I be bothered?"