Going into the series against England, Pragyan Ojha was touted as India's trump card against the big-hitting Kevin Pietersen, given the latter's vulnerability against left-arm spinners, says a report in Hindustan Times, adding that the Orissa lad had told HT before the start of the series that he had an advantage over the South Africa-born England cricketer, but said he would like to get the man first before talking. “Let me claim his wicket then I can say I got him out,” Ojha had said.
The tweaker was clearly delighted after bagging the prized wicket on Day Three of the first Test in Ahmedabad. “There was assistance from the wicket and I knew if I kept hitting the right areas, I would get him. He (KP) has a weakness against left-arm spinners.”
But, Ojha warned that getting the star batsman in their first contest didn't mean it would be any easier in their future battles.“It's a great thing I got his wicket. But, I personally feel, I shouldn't be taking it easy because he is a very good batsman with vast experience and has got loads of runs to his credit.”
Meanwhile a report in The Hindu says that with a Test wickets tally of 80, Pragyan Ojha should soon be joining the select band of Indian left-am spinners who are in the 100-wicket plus club; notably Bishen Singh Bedi (266), Vinoo Mankad (162), Ravi Shastri (151) and Dileep Doshi (114).
“There were a few who, in spite of being gifted, were not lucky enough to reach the three figure mark. They are Venkatapathy Raju (93), Maninder Singh (88), Bapu Nadkarni (88) and Salim Durani (75). In all 24 players have bowled left-arm finger spin for India while the world has seen 202 in all with New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori leading with 360 wickets and followed by England’s Derek Underwood (297),” says the report.
“Ojha’s may be a far cry from the crafty bowling of the likes of Bedi, Mankad and Durani but for the moment he has fulfilled his claim as the No. 1 left-arm spinner in home conditions. Sixtythree of his 75 wickets before this Test had come on home pitches which obviously says that he has to prove himself in an away series; but the fact remains that he has played only four away Tests (two each in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka).”