MUMBAI: For someone who is used to bowling plenty of overs every innings, not turning his arm over even once must have felt strange for
Karn Sharma. However, that didn't stop the Railways captain from still putting his hand up and leading from the front.
Delivering handsomely with the bat this time, the left-hander slammed an unbeaten 112 to put his team on top by the end of Day Two of their
Ranji Trophy game against mighty Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium.
The way he switched gears, first holding fort with Ghosh and then pouncing on the bowling with Yadav, was admirable. Dumped after just one Test for India back in December 2014, the leg-spinner showed that he is by now an experienced and quality all-rounder in First-Class cricket. Two out of his four sixes came off consecutive balls against Akash Parkar, and the other two came off slog sweeps against Shams Mulani. His knock was chanceless and didn't contain a single false stroke.
India now play two leggies in limited overs cricket -
Yuzvendra Chahal and
Kuldeep Yadav - though not any more at the same time. Does he ever think he would get to wear the India cap again? "I'm not competing with anyone. I just want to perform well wherever I get to play. If the team does well, your performance will automatically be highlighted. Obviously, if I'm playing First-Class cricket, it's with the objective of playing for India, and not to kill time! I always believe that fortunes can change anytime in cricket. Two five wicket hauls can bring you into the reckoning," believes Karn.
Since India always look for all-rounders in the lower order to strengthen their batting, it helps Karn that he can bat well too. "I've always scored runs, whether in First-Class cricket, or the IPL. When I batted well, it helps my bowling as well," he feels.
Does he remember what went wrong at Adelaide five years back? "There's no point in thinking about what's gone. I just think that if I ever get a chance to play for India again, I'll rectify my mistakes," he says, shrugging off the question.
"It's a great feeling to be making a century against Mumbai in Mumbai, especially when we were in a crisis. It wasn't easy to bat yesterday and today morning," he says.