'Be positive and bag wickets, Bhajji'

MUMBAI, January 30: India may have lost the Test series, but there were more than a few gains for the tourists Down Under. No wonder, chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar is a happy man as he counted the positives from the tour in an interview with TOI on Wednesday. Excerpts:
Would you say Ishant Sharma was the find of the series?
Absolutely. He bowled superbly throughout the Test series.More importantly, he bowled at speeds over 145 kmph consistently and that’s brilliant to say the least.
What stood out for you about Ishant during the series? What has he changed in his bowling?
When he was selected for the England tour it was an investment for the future, his wrist position at the point of delivery then allowed him to bowl only in-swingers. At present he has developed an away going delivery and for his sort of bowling action, that could be a wicket-taking delivery. Besides, he has worked very hard on his fitness and endurance for the last couple of years and now he looks superbly fit.
So is our wait for a fast bowler over?
Well, he bowled consistently fast in the series and more importantly in the correct areas too. However, the calendar for international cricket is absolutely packed till 2011 and India would be playing a lot of matches. Winning is important but keeping these fast bowlers fresh and injury-free all the time is going to be a Herculean task. The rate at which fast bowlers are breaking down is quite alarming. The fact is that we have been left with hardly any option and the present situation has put the selectors in a quandary.
With Ishant’s emergence is our pace attack finally looking up or is there any cause of concern?
Our attack will look formidable when the likes of Zaheer, Sree Santh, Munaf, RP Singh are fit and are available for selection. Besides, VRV Singh and Pankaj Singh too are capable of raising their game to a higher level. Delhi’s Pradeep Sangwan too is a promising new ball bowler and could be ready for top class cricket in a couple of years from now. Of course Ishant’s progress at the highest level is heart-warming to say the least.
How and where did you first spot Ishant? What was it about Ishant that impressed you?
I did watch him during his under-19 days. He was lanky and though he showed promise, he had not developed physically to take the load of fast bowling. He had the pace and could extract bounce from the lifeless tracks. Though Ishant did not get many opportunities to play during the last England tour I saw India’s fast bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad working hard on him throughout and the result is there for all to see.
If our main fast bowlers Zaheer, Sree Santh, Munaf had been fit, do you believe we could have had a better result in Australia?
Of course. But, in hindsight, you can say that Ishant and RP got the opportunity and they proved themselves.
Is 1-2 really a fair result?
No, but for the Sydney fiasco, it should have been 1-1. Before the tour I had said that this Indian team has the best chance to win in Australia.
What resulted in Sehwag’s selection. He was in poor form for Delhi . Do you feel vindicated now?
It is not my judgement alone. I always believe that there are five selectors and we take collective decision. I prefer to say it’s ‘we’ and not ‘I’. Yes, Sehwag has a great international record and we believed in his ability. After all, when you pick X against Y, sometimes you go with your gut-feeling. I am glad for him and he proved us right.
Irfan Pathan has been a revelation once again. The swing’s back, he is taking wickets and he opened the batting too.
Do we have the makings of an all-rounder here?
Irfan bowled and batted really well on the tour. What impressed us was his positive attitude. He worked hard on his bowling during the ‘A’ tours and used the bounce in the Australian wickets cleverly.
Senior pros Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman had their moments in the series. Do we have the best batting line-up in Test cricket? Is there still any doubt?
I think they played fantastic cricket. They are great batsmen with great international record and have proved it time and again. We would have done far better had we got enough time to acclimatise to the conditions there.
Anil Kumble bowled brilliantly and captained superbly. How impressed have you been by him?
He is a great bowler and has been playing international cricket for the last 18 years and mind you, that’s a long long time. He is highly respected not only by his team-mates for his sincerity, discipline and hard work but also by the players from all over the world. He did a very good job as captain.
Harbhajan has been the disappointment of the series. Is there anything in particular you have spotted in him which has changed?
Harbhajan needs to be more consistent with his line and length and be mentally positive. It’s important for any spinner to go for the wickets rather than try and contain the batsmen. He knows it. He has wealth of experience and I am positive he must be working on his shortcomings.
Anil Kumble said that the announcement of ODI team before the last Test was not ideal. Do you think the Board can avoid announcement of a team during a Test or ODI series?
I quite agree with Anil. However, we had no option, for the tour itinerary was such that we had to select the team before the last Test match.
Looking ahead to the ODI series, we have a young team. Is this going to be the policy from now on youngsters for ODI and T20, seniors for Tests?
There is no hard and fast rule that only youngsters would play T20 and the ODIs. However, looking at the international schedule for the next four years or so, it is important to build the team for the future as well. It’s important for the selectors to ensure that the newcomers make smooth transition at the highest level and that too against the best ODI teams.