Assured of his skill set, rookie off-spinner Jayant Yadav, who is set for his maiden India tour of Zimbabwe next month, said he would never attempt to bowl a “doosra” in his career since it cannot be done without a bit of elbow kink.
“I have never bowled a doosra in my life and will never bowl one. I believe doosra can’t be bowled without a bit of kink. My stock ball is the off-spinner and that’s my strength.
"I am working on my carrom ball but to be honest, I have not reached a stage where I can use it at a big platform like IPL or international matches,” the 26-year-old, who has 110 first-class wickets from 40 matches, told PTI .
For Jayant, playing first-class matches at the seamer-friendly Bansi Lal Stadium in Lahli is a challenge as he has had to fight for a place in the state team with Amit Mishra and Yuzvendra Chahal.
“I think it has made me tougher that we play at Lahli, which is known for its seamer-friendly tracks. Also when Mishy bhai (Amit Mishra) is around, he is obviously the first choice spinner. If we play a second spinner, the fight is between myself and Yuzi (Yuzvendra Chahal),” Jayant said.
In fact, for him, it was a decision by Haryana CA supremo and BCCI treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhary that proved to be the turning point.
“It was my Ranji Trophy debut in 2011 against Gujarat in Surat. We were fighting to save relegation. Mishy bhai and Chahal were supposed to play and Aniruddh sir said that I should be played. It was a match that could have been make or break for me and he (Chaudhary) had belief in my abilities. I got six wickets in the game and we saved relegation,” said Jayant, who is waiting to have an interaction with Mahendra Singh Dhoni as he has never spoken to the Indian captain.
The next big turn came when he got to interact with Rahul Dravid during last year’s India A stint.
“For the first two days, I was in awe of him. I simply could not speak as it was like standing in front of Rahul Dravid. Then as I interacted, I was amazed at his homework.
“That was evident in IPL where in each of the five matches I had the same role and it was a specific one. I was told that I will have to bowl in Powerplays. Rahul bhai believes that in match situations, every player is his own coach and needs to learn to think out of the box,” said Jayant, who is employed with Chemplast and plays in TNCA league for the renowned Chennai club side.
Jayant mentioned that his favourite off-spinners were Ravichandran Ashwin and Graeme Swann.
“Swann had such amazing drift in his deliveries while Ashwin is a master of variations. As a bowler, it is necessary to have variations when one aspires to play at the highest level.”
Yadav believes that coming through the age-group ranks has helped him go through a steady progress.
“I have played for Haryana in all age-groups. Right from U-15, U-17, U-19, U-22 and then the state side followed by IPL and India A. It’s been a gradual progression. In fact, at U-15, it was Yuzvendra, who was our captain.”
While he hails from Gurgaon, Jayant lives with his parents in the Air India quarters at South Delhi’s Vasant Vihar area.
“While I am from Haryana domicile, I had started playing my cricket in Delhi’s New Friends Club. I was a student of DPS Vasant Kunj and then studied BA programme at the Hindu College. As of now, my aim will be to remain relaxed. Also like every other youngster, I am also looking forward towards meeting Mahi bhai (Dhoni),” concluded Jayant.
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