Payyade Sports Club's leg-spinner Pardeep Sahu forced his way into the record books of Dr HD Kanga Cricket League by scalping all 10 wickets in an innings against MIG Cricket Club yesterday
Pardeep Sahu
Payyade Sports Club's leg-spinner Pardeep Sahu forced his way into the record books of Dr HD Kanga Cricket League by scalping all 10 wickets in an innings against MIG Cricket Club yesterday.
Pardeep Sahu. Pic/Atul Kamble
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Sahu (10 for 102) achieved this rare feat in an 'A' division match held at the MIG ground, Bandra. The game ended in a draw.
"It always feels good to pick up wickets. After any good performance, there is always some amount of pressure on an individual, but it is very important to focus on the task at hand and keep on performing.
Honestly, I was never thinking about picking up 10 wickets but once I picked up my eighth, I started to believe that I could claim all 10," he told mid-day.
Having picked up three wickets on Saturday, Sahu started his day by watching a video of Shane Warne bowling a straighter one.
"I was preparing for the match by watching some videos of Warne bowling his straighter one without changing his action. I have been practicing that for a while and I am happy it worked well for me," he said.
Sahu enjoyed all the 10 wickets but the dismissal of Kevin D'Almeida for 12 will always be very special: "When I started bowling, he stepped out a lot of times to break my rhythm.
I then planned to bowl a top spinner which could induce an edge in the slips. The strategy really worked out and I am happy I could get him out with a good catch by Onkar Khanvilkar."
Born and brought up in Bhiwani, Haryana which is known for producing quality boxers, watching the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble on television caused Sahu to take up cricket at an early age.
His exploits in age-group cricket earned him a place in the Haryana Ranji Trophy team at the tender age of 16.
Though he could not get adequate amount of matches at the Ranji level due to the presence of Amit Mishra in the playing XI, Sahu learnt a lot being on the sidelines.
"It was a learning experience for me to watch him (Mishra) bowl and interacting with him about the art of leg spin bowling," he said.