HYDERABAD: CV Milind had a tremendous Ranji Trophy season in 2016-17 with 35 wickets to his credit but an injury stalled his progress. The lion-hearted bowler has, however, come back with a bang this season. Always a good bowler in the shorter format, left-arm seamer Milind has surged to the top of the bowling charts with 18 wickets in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy this season. The 27-year-old spoke to ToI about his performance this season and his journey thus far.
Excerpts:
What was different this year:
I think last year, I had put myself under pressure like I had to do something. I had built up pressure on myself and that worked against me. This year, I went back and worked with my coach (T Dilip). I realized that there was no need to put myself under pressure and rather I needed to focus on trying to win games for the team by whatever I could do – bowling, batting and fielding. My aim was to concentrate on that game and the next and not to get too far ahead of things. I didn’t want to go too much into the future and that kept me in the moment and that was the difference between last year and this season.
Reading the wicket:
This year, I started using the crease a little more like coming close to the wicket and sometimes going away from it. It was more about reading the wicket and conditions. So, my effort was to read the wicket as quickly as possible to adapt to it. Sometimes the wicket needed some pace off or sometimes it didn’t need anything. At times I had to be very tight with my lines if it was a flat wicket. My goal was to try and figure out what I could do on a certain kind of wicket.
Rhythm bowler:
I am basically a rhythm bowler as it is a ‘feel’ kind of thing with me. If I am in a good ‘feel’, sometimes, I clock more than what I normally do. My average is around 135km or so but when I am in a good rhythm I can clock much more. It’s all about striking a balance. Sometimes, I need to go at full pace but there were a few times where I used variations as the wicket didn’t afford much to the bowlers. I tried to balance it as per the conditions available during the game.
Injury setback:
Actually, after that high season (2016-17), I didn’t play a single game the next year as I had suffered a shin injury. It took me a year to come back. It was never really the same after that because it takes a while to get back that sort of confidence and rhythm. Even when you are away for a while, the game moves on and the dynamics change and many things are not in your control. I needed to find my confidence back and it took a while. I think that hampered me a little bit but I am glad that I am fit again and I can give it my best shot again.
Focus on the present:
Obviously, the goal is to play for the country at the highest level but it’s all in the future. As of now, I just want to focus on the present. Whatever match I get, I want to help my team win. If I think more about the future, I will be putting myself under pressure again. So, I am trying not to do that and enjoy the journey with my teammates. It’s a really good bunch of players and it’s wonderful to play with them. Everyone is so motivated and wants to win. A championship win is just round the corner with this type of work ethics. I just want to be in the good space of enjoying victories with my teammates. Some things are not in my control, so I don’t want to focus on that but keep my eyes on winning matches for my team.
Playing in the IPL:
I think it is important that a player gets some games to play. Because there is no point in being in the squad without playing a game. If a player is in the squad for a long time without playing a game, it doesn’t do any good for his confidence. A player should be playing and become a part of the core group. So, it's better for a player to get a few games under his belt rather than being in the squad. It’s good for an experience, especially for a U-19 player or so, but not for a senior player.
STATS
TOP 5 BOWLERS
CV Milind 7M, 209R, 18W, 5/8BB, 11.61Ave, 8.41 Eco, 2 5 wicket hauls
CV Stephen 5, 120, 14, 4/11, 8.57, 6.05, 1 4 wicket
R Dhawan 6, 156, 14, 6/23, 11.14, 7.14, 1 fiver
A Karnewar 8, 139, 13, 4/5, 10.69, 4.34, 1 four,
D Nalkande 8, 153, 13, 5/9, 11.76, 5.88, 1 four, 1 fiver
TOP 3 Hyd BOWLERS
CV Milind 7M, 209R, 18W, 5/8BB, 11.61Ave, 8.41 Eco, 2 5 wicket hauls
T Ravi Teja 6, 144, 7, 3/27, 20.57, 6.85
Mohd Siraj 3, 67, 5, 338, 13.40, 6.09
