Venkata R. Sathi
Right Hand Medium Fast Bowler
(Even though it looks blank, do click on the video below, it will play)
Introduction:
WVUCC has always had problems finding a stable opening bowling partnership but for the last couple of seasons we have been blessed in this department. In 2006 it was Hari Menon and C.V. Karthik who ran through the top order with some fierce pace and swing. In 2007, it was the likes of Venkat, Avinaschander, and Harsheesh Patel who provided the team with early wickets almost every time. Out of the three, the most consistent was Venkat. He was the perfect replacement for C.V. Karthik, darting the new ball back in sharply from the off-stump channel and crashing into middle- and leg-stump on more than a few occasions.
At first look, Venkat doesn't look like a natural sportsman. He has large, rigid, body and seems to move slowly in the field. He sleeps for most of our trips to the ground and hardly talks in the ground. However, this is nothing more than deception. When he has the ball in his hand, he transforms into a force to be reckoned with. Once he got into his stride, he was comfortably my first choice for opening the bowling, even though his control over the extras was a bit problematic early in the season.
Progress:
Consistency in attitude is a trait that many cricketers lack. I have seen in my long years at WVU many cricketers with a lot of ability who came, didn't do well, and then gave up. This is the very trait (unwillingness to give up) which made Venkat grow from a misdirected, all-over-the-place, wild swinger of the new ball to a skillful, controlled, and effective swinger of the cricket ball. He was one of the few members along with his dear friend Nikhil, who never lost hope and kept turning up for the net-sessions, improving slowly but surely and becoming a match-winner for his team.
His first five games yielded only two wickets, not because he lacked the ability, but because he was not putting the ball in the right spot on a consistent basis. His frequent wides down the leg-side made sure that Ashok was always diving around towards his left and people like Harsheesh (standing at deep fine-leg) did not get bored. It was against the Lumberjacks (poor Lumberjacks always give our team members confidence) in his sixth game for WVUCC, that Venkat found the wicket-taking, dangerous line and length. The result, 5 wickets in 4 overs and only 11 runs given. A disaster for the Lumberjacks, but a turning point for Venkat. The mind of a fast bowler is a strange thing. A fast bowler may bowl the greatest spells of pace and swing in the nets, but until and unless he finds the right spot on a particular day on a given ground, he is like a silent storm. Once Venkat understood where his arm needs to be and how the ball needs to leave his hands on this particular pitch, his potent energy found a way out, troubling even the best batsmen in the league. 8 wickets in three matches meant that Venkat was another addition in the long list of matchwinners WVUCC had this season. Not only did his bowling performance improve, and he found out the right technique for his kind of bowling, but his attitude also changed. I think that every fast bowler who lacks in aggression is missing something major in his bowling. Venkat lacked this aggression in his earlier games but now he was firing all cylinders, staring at the batsmen and celebrating every wicket with emotion and passion.
Venkat took 10 wickets in the eight games he played for WVUCC this season with a brillian average of 16.11.
My favorite Venkat delivery: In-swinger from outside off-stump crashing into middle!!
My favorite Venkat spell: Match-winning 5 for 11 against Lumberjacks.
Technical Analysis:
Bowling:
Venkat is not the regular seam bowler who runs in, delivers the ball, and bowls a regular line-length stuff. Venkat is a natural inswinger of the new ball. He tries to ball full in order to extract maximum swing. His run-up to the stumps is not smooth and he bowls well when he runs in quick. Earlier in the season when he was struggling with his control, his head was falling away, and there was a degree of reluctance in his right arm which means that he was not allowing his arm to rotate fully at the point of delivery. His seam position is always great and he is a chest-on kind of a fast bowler. The area where he definitely needs to improve is his run-up. I think that if he runs a littler faster, it gives him a better finish at the crease and will also improve his line. One problem he has is that, like Harsheesh, he also looks at the crease when running in to bowl. This is not a good idea for any fast bowler. This completely takes away your focus from the batsman and where you want to bowl to him. If Venkat is able to change his bowling action to be a little more side-on, he can also develop his out-swinger.
Mental Analysis:
It is very difficult to say anything about the mental state of a player like Venkat. He hardly talks and his expressions stay the same. One thing I can say is that once he has the ball in his hand, he is very focused and there is Kumble-like determination written all over his face. Judging from the way he progressed in the season, we may say that Venkat has the mental strength to overcome situations where he has been hit around by the batsmen and come back strong in the next over or the next game.
What Else:
Venkat is a challenging bowler for any captain to set a field for. After the first two games, I had to come up with an innovated field set for his type of bowling. Fine leg, a leg gully, and a deep square leg is hardly a conventional field set. At times we even had to employ a leg slip. The regular gully and slip positions prove to be a total waste for him. Anyway, it was a unique experience for me. Venkat is easy to work with and he always tries his best to implement the team plans. Another thing which people hardly appreciate is that Venkat and Nikhil volunteered to stand on the leg side in almost all the games they were involved in, in order to fetch the balls from the trees. Thank you Venkat for all they you did.
Marks Out of Ten this season (8.0/10)
No comments:
Post a Comment