Dhawal Kulkarni gets a deserving call-up

MUMBAI: Mumbai pacer Dhawal Kulkarni who has earned a call-up for the India side for the tour of New Zealand on Friday belongs to the line of wiry pacers from Mumbai like Ramakant Desai and Ajit Agarkar. Dhawal's biggest advantage is that he would know the conditions in New Zealand having toured there with the India u-19 side in 2007.
Lalchand Rajput, the coach of that side, said, "Dhawal bowled well on that tour and got a five-wicket haul in one of the games.'' Rajput is also coach of the IPL side that Dhawal plays for, Mumbai Indians.
Rajput said, "Dhawal got great exposure at MI with the company of the likes of Shaun Pollock and Co. He has put that to good use and grabbed the chances that came later with both hands."
Rajput said Dhawal's great qualities are that "he is sharp, has a good bouncer and also a yorker to follow it up. Above all he is accurate."
It must have helped Dhawal's case that just a day earlier, one of the selectors Narendra Hirwani saw him bowl well under pressure, the penultimate over of the Dr DY Patil Cup semi-final when veteran Gagan Khoda was going great guns.
Dhawal gave just five in the over, setting up Air India's win. The important thing, as Air India's cricket secretary Shekhar Varadkar pointed out, is that Dhawal went through the entire season without breaking down.
Dhawal lives in the eastern suburb of Chunabhatti and played for Raja Shivaji High School. Dhawal gave notice with wickets for the Mumbai U-17 side in the 2005-06 Vijay Merchant Trophy. He single-handedly got Mumbai the Cooch-Behar and Vinoo Mankad (1-day) u-19 titles in 2006-07. He claimed 42 wickets in seven games, with 8 for 47 against Tamil Nadu being the best.
The coach of that side Sulakshan Kulkarni said, "He had a bit of a jump then. Now he has that drag. If he gets a bit of a rock-back he could bowl even better. His forte is the zip he generates from his shoulder."
Two seasons later in 2008-09, Dhawal has replicated the 42-wicket feat for the Mumbai Ranji side which won him the CEAT Cricket Ratings bowler of the year award.
Dhawal has twice been to Australia, once under the Border-Gavaskar Scholarship and late with the India A for the Emerging Players tourney. Selector Dilip Vengsarkar who saw him bowl in this tourney was all praise for him.
Dhawal gives credit to TA Sekhar and Troy Cooley for fine tuning his bowling. They advised him not to open up the leading arm too much. Short levers are the things that will work for him. At IPL Shaun Pollock is said to have pointed some improvements in his basics. Dhawal says his accuracy stems from playing T20.
Dhawal was happy to bowl opposite Zaheer Khan in the Ranji semis and final and importantly that he could take wickets like him also. Zaheer told him if he worked hard nothing could come in his way and the India cap.