Basil Thampi: Dravid and McGrath advised me never to sacrifice pace for swing

Kerala has a history of unearthing talented pace bowlers – be it S Sreesanth, Tinu Yohannan or Abey Kuruvilla. The latest to make waves is Basil Thampi, who was adjudged this year’s IPL emerging player for bowling consistently at a pace of 140kmph or above and his ability to produce toe-crushing yorkers at will.
It’s no wonder then that the 24-year-old from Ernakulam has been selected for India A team for their ODI tournament against New Zealand A. We caught up with the pacer before he left for Vishakhapatnam for the matches:
What do you attribute the selection to?
It’s my second tour with India A. I had previously played with the team, immediately after this year’s IPL, for a tri-series in South Africa against the home team and Afghanistan A. We won the tournament and I could play well under the guidance of coach Rahul Dravid sir.
I was also part of the victorious India Red team in the recently concluded Duleep Trophy. I believe the selection is a result of the consistent performances.
Australian captain Steven Smith regarded India’s current death bowlers the best in the world right now. You would be facing some stiff competition in your bid to break into the Indian team?
I have always loved the challenge of bowling the final overs. The encouragement from a lot of people has also reassured me that my strength is my yorkers.
There’s tough competition from the current players of the Indian team as they are solid performers and have a balanced skill set. Be it Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami or Umesh Yadav, all of them can open the bowling and are adept at the death too. That’s why the India A matches are so important, as you are competing with the top players in different conditions. Doing well in such matches increases your confidence too.
The recent Duleep trophy had four-day matches. Did it test you as a player, since you have mostly played T20s and ODIs?
Playing the longer format was definitely a different experience. The final was played on a rank turner, so I didn’t have to bowl much as the spinners took over. But playing the matches, one became aware of one’s fitness and how much you can push yourself. In IPL too, when you are in a team with players such as Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja, you are learning from them and how they react to situations on and off the field.
You have spent a lot of time with Rahul Dravid in your last India A stint and Glenn McGrath at the MRF Pace Academy. What was their advice to you?
Both asked me not to cut down on my pace. Rahul sir told me that I have the mind for it and wanted me to ensure that I pitch in the right areas. Glenn sir also keeps saying that fast bowling has a lot to do with the mind. He doesn’t want me to sacrifice pace in order to swing the ball better. That’s an advice that I am trying to follow and now the focus is to swing or reverse swing the ball while maintaining my pace.
The IPL has served as a platform for a lot of emerging talents from Kerala including Sanju Samson and Sachin Baby.
We have a lot of quality players in Kerala who can excel at T20 and they are making the best use of IPL. I am looking forward to play with the Kerala team. In fact, I was supposed to join the Ranji Trophy team on Monday, but that’s when the India A selection was announced and I will be leaving to Vishakhapatnam on Wednesday. So, I am hoping I could play with them once the tournament ends.
The performance of the India A ODIs will matter especially with India playing Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa in the next six months. What will be your gameplan?
I am obviously going to put my best foot forward. For me, getting into the Indian cricket team is the dream, and for that I am working on my fitness, bowling at right lengths and developing my swing.