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The Cricket Interview/ Sadagoppan Ramesh

'I go to the temple when I get runs and even when I don't'

You stood there for a long time before walking back. As you walked, what was in your mind?

Oh, it was terrible. The worst feeling that I ever had. Getting out in the nineties is terrible in any game. In a Test, it was even more terrible. But I am happy that the team won the match. I really feel I have contributed something for the victory.

Were you going through the nervous nineties then or did you lose concentration?

No, I didn't lose concentration at all. I was hundred per cent in the game. Actually I didn't expect him to bowl a full toss to me. I was just waiting to block the good balls and grab the loose ones. And then he bowls a full toss and it really excited me. I wanted to play it through midon and midwicket. Actually I kept my hands loose and decided to place it instead of hitting the ball. The ball turned slightly, took the edge and it was a lollypop catch! I couldn't believe myself for a few seconds. I couldn't believe what I had done.

Azharuddin was on the other side. What did he tell you then?

As I walked back, he patted my back and said, 'Don't worry. You batted well. There is a long way to go.'

Did you talk to your family and friends later?

Actually, we don't get too many calls due to security reasons. But I spoke to my father and he also told me not to worry. He said, you got 60 and 96. You have done well in both innings. Don't worry.

Which was more disappointing, the 43 or the 96?

Of course, the 96! I missed a Test hundred by four runs. It is a matter of pride to get a Test hundred, that too in your second match. But then it was not to be. Now I have decided not to think about what had happened. I should look forward, I should think of the future and not the past.

You read Saqlain quite well, even better than Tendulkar. Was it because you were an off spinner once?

Yes, I was quite comfortable against Saqlain. What I did was, instead of going after the balls, I waited for his loose balls. He is not a bowler who will bowl straight, he is a bowler who will try for wickets. Saqlain has a lot of variety and he varies his balls to get wickets. When he starts varying, he bowls loose balls. That was what I waited for throughout my innings. Also, he flights the ball more and does not bowl flat. I just watched his bowling for the first 10 minutes. I did not take any chance then, I just tried to read his hand. I started hitting only after that. You can actually spot his outgoing ball. He bowls that one differently, releasing it from the back of his hand.

Your eldest brother Satish is an all rounder. Another brother Mahesh opens the bowling for Tamil Nadu. Now you play for the country. You must have grown up watching your brothers play cricket. Was that the reason why you chose this game?

May be. Their playing cricket helped me focus on this game. I used to go and watch all the matches my brothers played. Slowly the interest grew and I was dragged to the game. My eldest brother helped me a lot. He used to come to the ground and bowl to me for about half an hour or one hour.

Were you interested in any other game? Or, was it always cricket?

No, not cricket alone. When the soccer World Cup started, we played football. We also played tennis. I used to play a lot of games, not cricket alone. Finally I focused on cricket as I got more facilities to play cricket. I started playing for various clubs at a very young age itself. And I was climbing up slowly. So, I decided to concentrate on cricket as I got a chance to represent the Under-16 state team.

But you began as a right arm medium pacer, didn't you?

I was a right arm medium pacer in the Under-13 team.

Then you became an off spinner, batting lower down. How did his transformation take place?

At the age of 10 and 11, I went for the selection as a medium pacer. Even though I picked a lot of wickets in the nets, they didn't select me. So I got fed up. I thought, what is this? I was getting wickets but not getting selected. So, I told my brother that I was going to concentrate on spin. And I started bowling off spin, just for the fun of it. Then people started telling me, you are bowling off spin well. Why don't you practice on that? I did that and I got some wickets in quite a few matches.

So, when I bowled off spin in the Under-16 selection camp, I was selected. To my surprise. I thought, okay, if this is working, I'd bowl bowl off spin.

Didn't you concentrate on your batting then? You batted at 7 for the under 16 team. Were you more interested in bowling then?

I used to bat at number 4 or 5 at school. In the first five south zone league matches of the Under-16 team, I batted at number 7 and 8. But I used to score runs in the seventies and eighties. Slowly, they started promoting me high up. When I was sent at number 4, I got 60. From then I was batting at 4, number 3, etc.

When did you become an opening batsman?

I started opening in the limited over games first. That was when I was playing for the Under-19 team. In a second division match, I told my captain to send me as an opener. And I played well as an opener! When I was playing in the first division matches of Chemplast, they gave me the number 3 slot as they had openers. Then I shifted to SPIC and began opening the innings.

So, after that your bowling took a backseat.

Yes. Because I used to hit headlines only when I got 100 or 150. So, they started looking at me as a batsman. If you get 100 runs and 3 wickets, people look at only the 100 runs and not the wickets.

Did you bowl in the Ranji Trophy matches?

Only when there was a big partnership.

Now, would you like to be known as an all rounder or just as an opening batsman?

Definitely as an all rounder. Because an all rounder has an edge over a batsman in one days also. The other day the manager asked me to bowl in the nets. They were really impressed with my bowling. They told me, 'You might have to chip in some more in the matches.'

You played against the West Indies A team as an opener. What kind of learning experience was it, facing the West Indian fast bowlers?

The West Indians can bowl quick at any time they want because they are physically very strong than any other cricketers in the world. Ian Bishop, as you know is an experienced cricketer with lots of wickets behind him. That time the selectors were looking for openers who could play fast bowlers well. I was aware of that and I wanted to get some runs.

Srikkanth also told me that whoever did well in the batting would definitely get recognised. That really motivated me and I concentrated very hard. It helped me get those 138 runs.

I could also speak to G R Viswanath after the match and he advised me on the square cut. He told me to get on top of the ball and hit it on the ground. He spoke to me for about 15, 20 minutes.

Has cricket become very competitive and very tough these days?

Definitely. It has become very, very competitive. If you fail in a few matches, you are under tremendous pressure, you are under tremendous criticism. Now when you do well, the media and the people take you to the top and if you don't do well, you are pushed down. That is why I think the players have become very shrewd and are concentrating more on the game. You cannot really relax now. The pressure is definitely more, a lot more with the kind of media exposure that we get these days.

Now do you also feel the same, especially after your success in these two matches?

Yes. I have just started my career. So I will have to perform consistently. I look at cricket as my job. I try to keep myself fit, both physically and mentally. I do a lot of running. Mental toughness, I think, is in-built. You cannot attain it by practice. I have to mentally fit all the time.

Haynes and Greenidge were a formidable opening pair for the West Indies. So also Marsh and Boon for Australia. But here in India, even when Gavaskar was batting, we didn't have a solid opening pair. How important is it for an opener to have a good partner?

It is very important to have a strong opening pair for any country. It will definitely help if you are opening with a senior cricketer because he may be able to give you a lot of advice. When I played with Sachin, he gave me a lot of advice on how to tackle Akram or Waqar. Now I am opening with Laxman and what helped us was we have played a lot of domestic cricket together and we are good friends. So we can share a lot together. I can talk freely with a youngster than a senior cricketer.

For example, if I miss a single, I can tell him, come on, run for it. I can't say that to a senior cricketer. So if you bat with your friends, the understanding will be better. That is the most important thing for an opener because you have to rotate strike.

Are you a very religious person? Yesterday when I called, you had gone to the temple.

Yes. I believe in God and I go to temple every Saturday. Anjaneya (Hanuman) is my favourite God. I go to the temple when I get runs and even when I don't.

Have you started getting a lot of phone calls from fans? <> Lots of calls come but I don't take them. It is my mother who takes all the calls and she is tired of calls now.

Who are your fans, kids or teenage girls?

Lots of little boys and teenage girls came for autographs on the ground.

So, are you going to take over the position as the teenage hero from Dravid?

I don't know. It is up to the fans to make me a Sachin or a Dravid! (Laughs.)

Photographs: Sanjay Ghosh