HYDERABAD : Good cricket teams strike a balance between serious and jovial characters. While the serious ones help the side sail through choppy waters, the jovial ones help raise dented morale in a desperate situation.
The Hyderabad cricket team’s domestic season is over and the boys are back in the city. Left-arm spinner Mehdi Hasan has enjoyed a fruitful season, as he lead the spin arsenal from the front. And the best part is he likes to have fun on the field.
“I feel positive almost all the time, even in a dire situation I try to look for something that would cheer the team up,” Hasan told Express. The 27-year-old made his debut in 2011 but evolved into a regular player of the team only this season.
“I was with the team for a long time but got to play only when Pragyan Ojha was appearing for India,” he said. But, the wheels of fortune spun in his favour when Ojha opted to play for Bengal in the 2015-16 season. That season, Hasan along with Akash Bhandari and Vishal Sharma handled the spin department.
But, the real change came in the recently concluded domestic season, where he became the frontline tweaker — playing nine of the 10 Ranji matches.
The highlight came at the Vijay Hazare Trophy when he picked up 11 wickets in six matches, sometimes overshadowing the pace trio of Mohammed Siraj, Chama Milind and M Ravi Kiran.
Even while putting in those performances, Hasan never let the prankster in him die. “I am very close to a few of my teammates like Siraj and Himalay (Agarwal). I am always picking on them. The environment in the team is great,” he said with a smile.
Wicketkeeper batsman Kolla Sumanth has been playing with Hasan since the U-22 days and said that the confidence the spinner exudes rubs on others. “He has a never-give-up attitude. His positive mindset is infectious,” Sumanth exclaimed.
The spinner got married recently and plans to go on a trip with his wife. “We will plan a holiday very soon. But that would be for a brief period as I will be back in the city to train for the next season. There is no off season. We are always training,” Hasan, who credits the team’s satisfactory outing to coach Bharathi Arun and skipper S Badrinath, concluded.
vishal@newindianexpress.com