New Delhi, April 19 (IANS) Chennai Super Kings young fast bowler Mohit Sharma Friday said playing under Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the best period of his life.
“It is probably the best period of my life that I am playing under his leadership. He never puts any sort of pressure on you. He always motivates you. No matter what the conditions are, he never puts any pressure on you. I have never met anyone more positive,” he said.
The Faridabad boy was picked up by Chennai Super Kings after a good domestic season with Haryana. On Thursday night, he removed the top-three Daredevils batsmen David Warner, Manpreet Juneja and Virender Sehwag at the Ferozeshah Kotla as Super Kings won by a huge margin.
Having played against Sehwag in the past, Mohit exactly knew how to get rid of him.
“I have played against him twice and he has hit me for runs. I didn’t think too much, and like we had discussed and since he is a compulsive puller, we decided to bowl him a short ball and what we did paid off,” Mohit told IPLT20.com.
A day after his heroics, Mohit admitted being nervous ahead of the match.
“I was a little bit nervous before the match, but once I went on the field everyone had told me not to think about who is in front of you and who is not. Whoever was there, I had to bowl. So I did not think too much about who is there,” he said.
Mohit said it was his senior team mate Suresh Raina, who asked him to focus on his every delivery and not about the full quota of four overs.
“Raina Bhai had told me to just focus on my bowling. He had told me not to think of how I will bowl the entire over or how I will bowl my quota of four overs, but to just think of the one delivery that I will be bowling at that point. So I bowled thinking about only one delivery at a time and that probably worked for me,” he said.
It wasn’t a good start for Mohit as the first ball went for a wide. But all well that ends well.
“Exactly opposite of what I do happened there. I am an outswinger, (but) that delivery was an inswinger. But I didn’t feel very nervous because everyone was very supportive. If someone speaks against (is very critical), then one feels very nervous. But there was no such thing and everything went well. So, I did not feel nervous,” he said.
Asked how it felt to claim David Warner as his first wicket, Mohit said: “I felt really good. David Warner is a big player.”
Mohit said coach Stephen Fleming and bowling consultant Andy Bichel asked him just to bowl wicket to wicket.
“Fleming and Bichel told me that the wicket is a bit slow and low so not to think too much but bowl wicket to wicket. And that is what happened to David Warner. He slashed and played on. Because the wicket was slow (the ball stayed low), he was bowled,” he said.
Asked if his knowledge about the Kotla wicket helped him, Mohit said: “The wicket has usually played a bit slow and low and the same thing happened here today. The plan is not to try too much, go for slight change of pace and not bowl too fast.”
Mohit said he doesn’t believe in experimenting. It is the last thing he would do, if things are not going his way.
“I am not the kind of bowler who experiments a lot. I don’t believe in experimenting too much. Only if things are going against me too much, then I try and experiment. Otherwise I believe in sticking to my line. That is my strength, so I will work on that. I bowl on a spot. And I focus on my strengths,” he said.
Mohit said he is getting to learn a lot from Dirk Nannes and Bichel.
“I get to learn a lot from all these players. Dirk Nannes, Andy Bichel and the other fast bowlers — they keep telling me where I am going wrong and what I can do to improve, like increase my speed and have a better body balance,” he said.
Mohit said his stint with Super Kings is helping him to get disciplined as a bowler.
“I have become more disciplined in my bowling because they also told me that I don’t need to try too many things and just keep working on what I am already doing and focus on it,” he said.
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