New Delhi, Jan 30: Virat Kohli’s much-anticipated homecoming via the Ranji Trophy match for Delhi against Railways had left the environment electric and excited around the Arun Jaitley Stadium. For pacer Navdeep Saini, who took 3-62 on day one’s play, it was no different.
“See, it is a big thing for me too to be playing with Kohli because he is a legend. To share the dressing room and play with him, the other players’ energy goes up automatically. Over the last two days, our practice sessions were just different. Because his energy was so high, our energy was also high. He was very involved on the field and was talking to all the bowlers and our captain.”
“Kohli’s effort whether he is batting, fielding or in the gym is always ‘110%’. Seeing him in training, you are compelled to follow that. It spills over to the ground as well. No, we were not expecting so many people. But yes, while entering the ground in the morning, the queue was so long that we sensed a crowd of this magnitude would come,” said Saini to reporters at the close of day one’s play.
Asked if there was pressure on the young guys in the Delhi team to play with such a rare big crowd in attendance, Saini stated, “For the young guys, it was a proud feeling to share the dressing room with Virat. For a fielder at slip to be alongside him or for a bowler to ask him how to be better on the field, it was a golden opportunity for everybody to learn.”
One of the highlights of the day came when in a bid to get another maximum, Karn Sharma went for a big shot, but fell to a brilliant relay catch by Yash Dhull in the deep. Kohli was the first person to appreciate Dhull for his great catch, and that led to a huge cheer from the crowd who began chanting “Kohli, Kohli” for the umpteenth time in the day.
“The captain and I spoke about the short-ball strategy and Virat also had a word with Badoni. There wasn’t much happening from the pitch and we had tried to be patient. So after that, we resorted to bowling bouncers, we knew we could concede a few runs but a wicket-taking opportunity would also arise. That is what happened,” added Saini.
He also quipped it was a surprise for him to see the pitch with a greenish tinge easing out in post-lunch play. “It did feel that the pitch and weather conditions were suitable for bowling in the morning session. But we also didn’t expect the pitch to play as it did during the second session.”
On the personal front, it’s been a season where Saini has turned out consistently for Delhi, barring the times he was in Australia as India A team member and later with the main Test team as a reserve bowler. For someone who’s played all three formats for India, the last two-three years have been a bit of a lull for Saini, as injuries hampered his progress too.
But on Thursday, Saini was one of the pillars being Delhi’s phenomenal fast-bowling performance, including sending Vivek Singh’s off-stump on a cartwheel ride. He credited this good run to continuously playing matches.
“Absolutely, like after last IPL, I played DPL and then Duleep Trophy. When you keep playing continuously, that's when you get improvement. You can practice as much as you want on the nets. But until you don't play the match, you won't have that mindset. You can focus on practice as much as you want, but the situation of the match is different.”
“If you are in the reserves, you won't be able to give performances. So I personally feel like this - it is better to play continuous matches. Whether you play DPL or Duleep Trophy, or if there is any tournament in Delhi, or even league matches are there, play that too, so that the person stays in touch. By the time the season comes, things remain easy,” he signed off.
