COLOMBO: “No, no, no,…” squealed Naman Ojha, almost jumping out of the chair, when reminded of his uncharacteristically laborious effort of 10 runs in 84 balls in the first innings of India A-Australia A unofficial Test in Chennai last month. His response was like a firebrand comrade being alleged of bourgeois lifestyle. He might have felt slighted.
Then the staunch clarification, his shrill voice gathering a sudden momentum: “I don’t want to change my philosophy. I want to be like how I always have been, that is to play aggressive cricket. Wicket can have turn and bounce but I love to play my shots. Before the Chennai match, one senior told me to spend more time at the crease. I think I spent too much time at the crease.” He seemed more settled thereafter, his nerves soothed and voice more firm.
That knock in Chennai was an antithesis to the usual vibrant self he is. The Ojha we have accustomed to seeing is someone who likes to subdue the bowler, unhindered to pursue the occasional risk in the process, which isn’t surprising considering he idolises the legendary Adam Gilchrist. He is not an out-and-out aggressor like the Australian—he was in his early days, before the technique-tweak under former India batsman Praveen Amre. Now, he’s more of a steady batsman, who if warranted can unleash mayhem on bowlers.
Among contemporary keepers he closely watches Brad Haddin, with whom he shares irrepressibly similar career lines, in that both of their prime was overshadowed by legendary figures. Haddin had to pine his time until Gilchrist retired, which he did in 2008, and Haddin was 30 when he made his debut. Likewise, Ojha is 32, having to spend time in the selection fringes for almost a decade due to MS Dhoni.
Unlike Haddin, who was ordained to take over from Gilchrist, he wasn’t the automatic successor to Dhoni. That was Wriddhiman Saha, and deservedly so after being the former’s understudy for years. Only the latter’s injury had spring-boarded him to realise his childhood dream of playing Test cricket for the country. And he himself knows he’s more of a stopgap arrangement than a long-term investment.
It’s an unenviable juncture for a cricketer to be in — having worked all these years for a Test call-up, but when he finally achieves it, he is already 30-plus, his prime ticking away and more like a substitute who will eventually make way for the regular. The wait would have been perpetually long for him. He has been in the radar for a while — and in fact featured in an ODI and two T20s in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe respectively — but to compete with Dhoni or to vie for his successor’s role, he knew he had to smooth the rough edges of his batting.
After fine-tuning his technique in 2013, he racked up 835 runs in seven matches in the Ranji Trophy. Drafted in for the ‘A’ tour to Australia, he amassed 430 in three innings inclusive of a double hundred and two hundreds against a line-up that featured Ben Cutting, James Faulkner, Mitchell Marsh and Nathan Lyon. Despite the sidelining, he wasn’t disheartened, unlike some contemporaries.
And on the cusp of realising his dream, he should invoke the spirit of Haddin, who eked out 66 Tests caps, than Gilchrist. And what happened in that India A match. That would automatically motivate him.