Mushtaq Ali T20 League: Vidarbha pacer Shrikant Wagh impresses on comeback

RAIPUR: “Jeez, that bounced off. Where did it come from?,” an excited John Wright reacted after seeing Shrikant Wagh’s accurate bouncer in the first over.It was Wagh’s first ball on his comeback after nearly two months. He had suffered the knee injury while playing football before Baroda game in Vijay Hazare Trophy last year. Wagh had to undergo the surgery and he missed the action for almost five months.The left-arm pacer came back against Chhattisgarh in the second Ranji Trophy match. However, he looked a pale shadow of himself. The ball was hardly reaching the gloves of wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma in that match. He looked like an easy meat for Amandep Khare—who scored double ton against Vidarbha and centurion Ashutosh Singh. It looked as if Vidarbha had rushed his comeback. It was painful to see Wagh, one of the talented players in Vidarbha, bowl like that. After all, he has led the Vidarbha attack with aplomb over the years.The memories of that Chhattisgarh game immediately surfaced when Wagh was handed the new ball on Monday. He bowled a full delivery which swung late and caught experienced Jatin Saxena by surprise. Saxena was expecting it to leave but it came in sharply and he did well to negate it in time. Wagh bowled a short one but Saxena pulled this time for a boundary.The 29-year-old then followed it with one more short delivery. It had decent pace and troubled Saxena. From the stands, Wright—the former India coach and Mumbai Indians talent scout—got excited. He bowled two back to back full deliveries which moved either ways. It was just a kind of over Wagh needed on his comebaack. The wicket at Shaheed Veer Narayan stadium had something in it for fast bowlers but it was still a good wicket to bat on as Vidarbha showed.In the next over, Wagh kept on cramping Khare and Saxena for room. The ball was rushing on them. He looked in good rhythm. They had huge score to chase and needed a bright start. Khare stepped out to hit Wagh in the next over. The ball again rushed on him and he top edged it as wicketkeeper Sharma completed an easy catch.The backbone of Chhattisgarh was broken. Wagh charged in and bowled full. The ball was swinging both ways and Saxena was finding it difficult to get going. He had to do something and went for scoop over short fine leg but chopped in on the stumps. Wagh’s double wicket over had pushed Chhattisgarh on the backfoot. He bowled a brilliant third over and hardly gave an inch to Chhattisgarh batsmen. His first spell of 3-0-15-2 had put Vidarbha on top. He finished his spell 4-0-24-2.“Wagh’s rhthym is good, his bowling action is looking good and he is finishing the action, which is very important. He is bowling with good pace and swinging also. It was good opening spell. He is an experienced player and used all that in his first spell,” MP coach Harvinder Singh Sodhi, who was watching the game, told TOI on Monday.“It’s always good if you have a left-seamer who can bowl with good pace and move the ball. Today, he accounted for their two main players to give Vidarbha just a kind of start they would have been hoping for. Wagh has been their important member of Vidarbha over the years. He did well with the bat too today,” Sodhi said.As he was coming back to the pavilion after the game, somebody complemented him, “Well bowled Wagh.” He replied with a smile, “Tiger Zinda Hai.”