Mohanty joins select band with all '10'
In the late 90s, Debasish Mohanty briefly emerged as a third force in the Indian seam attack headed by the Karnataka duo of Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad
Partab Ramchand
25-Jan-2001
In the late 90s, Debasish Mohanty briefly emerged as a third force in
the Indian seam attack headed by the Karnataka duo of Javagal Srinath
and Venkatesh Prasad. As suddenly as he came in, however, he went out,
replaced by bowlers like Abey Kuruvilla, Robin Singh (jr) and Ashish
Nehra. Over the last couple of years, with the emergence of young
players like Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan, Mohanty almost became a
forgotten figure in Indian cricket. Well, almost because he was still
in and out of the one day squad, where the need frequently has been
three or even four seam bowlers. In three years, he has played 41
ODIs. But his Test appearances have been restricted to two.
The 24-year-old seam bowler from Orissa made his Test debut in Sri
Lanka in 1997 in rather daunting circumstances. For, only in the
previous Test, Sri Lanka amassed the record score of 952 for six. Just
two days later, Mohanty was bowling to Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan
Mahanama who had put together a small matter of 576 runs in the
previous Test.
Undaunted by the prospect, Mohanty soon settled down. Coming on as
first change after being taken to supplement the new ball attack of
Prasad and Kuruvilla, Mohanty removed Jayasuriya for 32. A little
later, he had the wicket of Mahanama for 37. Then after going
wicketless for some time, he brought the innings to a rather swift end
by dismissing Aravinda de Silva for 146 and Ravindra Pushpakumara for
zero. He finished with the highly impressive figures of four for 78.
However, over the next three outings he had figures of none for 72 (in
the second innings of that Colombo Test) and none for 57 and none for
32 (against the same opponents at Mohali later in the season).
Mohanty has not been considered for a Test since then. But he earned a
reputation for accuracy and so was almost always around when it came
to selection in one day cricket. He was also a good swing bowler and
so his selection was almost automatic when conditions were windy. And
he proved in the last World Cup in England that the selectors were
right in picking him at the last moment, even though he was not in the
original list of probables. He more than justified his inclusion,
picking up four for 56 against Kenya, excelling with a crucial double
blow against England by dismissing Alec Stewart and Graeme Hick in the
same over and generally relishing the helpful conditions. He however
had few chances to cement his place on the tour of Australia where
Agarkar was given more opportunities.
Still with discussion of the Indian new ball attack recently centring
around Srinath, Prasad, Agarkar and Zaheer Khan, cricket fans might
have been forgiven had they asked `Debasish who' in response to
Mohanty. But the slim, yet stout hearted cricketer never gave up hope
of making a comeback. Just last week he told an interviewer that he
was determined and was putting in an extra effort to make a comeback
to the national team. He said he was constantly working on his bowling
and correcting faults to emerge as a world class bowler. "I am putting
some extra thought to develop my outswinger which is my natural
delivery", said the unassuming Mohanty. He said he would concentrate
on domestic cricket and perform well in a bid to catch the selector's
eye.
Actually, it is never easy for a cricketer from one of the weaker
states to break into the national side. And on this count, Mohanty
deserves credit for forcing himself into the Indian team on merit. He
came through the India A ranks and his bowling impressed coach K
Srikkanth who advocated his early inclusion in the senior side.
Mohanty's tragedy has perhaps been the fact that the selectors have
not known what exactly to do with him or where to fit him in.
But then Mohanty is made of sterner stuff. He relishes a challenge and
is undaunted by the fact that the competition for the fast bowler's
place in the Indian team is stiff. In a recent interview he said, "I
know that good fast bowlers like Zaheer have come into the Indian
team. Moreover, there are established cricketers like Srinath, Prasad
and Agarkar. However, I still feel that I can make a comeback simply
because of the amount of cricket that is now played in a season. One
must always be ready for a chance, so that when it comes, I can grab
it with both hands." His philosophy is simple. "My job is to take as
many wickets as I can. The rest is for the selectors to decide."
Putting this philosophy into practice, Mohanty this season has struck
a purple patch. For a start, he played a leading role in Orissa
finishing top of the heap in the East Zone Ranji Trophy league. He
bagged 25 wickets at just over 12 apiece. Orissa defeated Bengal for
the first time in 43 years and the architect was Mohanty, who had
match figures of eleven for 93. Then last week he wrecked a strong
North Zone side in the Duleep Trophy by taking six for 58 in the first
innings. And on Thursday, he became only the fifth Indian bowler to
take all ten wickets in first class cricket, joining the ranks of
Subash Gupte, P Chatterjee, Pradeep Sundaram and Anil Kumble. He
routed a formidable South Zone side with figures of 19-5-46-10, the
second best figures by an Indian bowler in first class cricket. On
these performances it can be taken that he has leapfrogged over some
of his rivals for a place in the national side and should be a serious
contender for the seamer's spot in the series against Australia next
month.
During the season, Mohanty has been working overtime to gain more
control over his length and direction. In the recent interview, he
said "I am working out in my own way as in international cricket, you
cannot afford to make a single mistake. I have found my rhythm this
season." He can say that again.