Virender's Blog-2008 - Page 8

**Virendersingh.berthwal** · 16 Nov 2008, 06:01

Last week's practice went very well.
Bowling was fine with fitness routine followed by me and my fellow off spinner with discipline.We report to the ground by 6:AM and with cold climate it gets very chilled out in the middle.
On bowling front;I did not tried any thing new and just kept on bowling on the right spot with occasional pace change.At times there was good amount of spin and bounce.Had all the batsmen in trouble when try-ed to charge on my bowling.
Batting also got more very well with batting on the ball's merit.
Out of the 6 days of nets;I bat for any avg for 3-4 days which is quite good for me as i normally get good fast and spin bowlers.
Since the wicket is unpredictable with uneven bounce watching the ball very closely is very important.I got into trouble only once and had a tough time to bat with ball bouncing unevenly.That makes the concentration level very high.
I go preparing my mind to watch the ball,play with a straight bat and not loose my wicket.So far batting has been very good.
We are also getting good fast bowlers in the nets and so far everyone has been in trouble and i have managed to bat well against them.
We are also having a match this coming Saturday against my ex-coach's team.
If I am in town then i will play that match.

**Virendersingh.berthwal** · 20 Nov 2008, 06:58

Our wicket has become a sort of minefield with uneven bounce even to spinners as well.
So watching the ball very closely and surviving is the key to batting in our nets.
Attached photo might provide the clue.
But still i would prefer to bat in this wicket because i am able to concentrate very hard and save my wicket with executing scoring shots as well.

someblokecalleddave · 21 Nov 2008, 17:29

Virender - how do you put the spin on the ball? Do you bowl any variations that are like the Flipper? Do you bowl the Doosra and if so how do you do it - what makes it spin?

someblokecalleddave · 21 Nov 2008, 17:33

Blimey 6am! I thought I was fairly committed - that's amazing - no wonder your lot are beating our lot out there at the minute! How often do you practice - it sounds like you practice almost every day of the week?!

**Virendersingh.berthwal** · 26 Nov 2008, 05:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by someblokecalleddave

Virender - how do you put the spin on the ball? Do you bowl any variations that are like the Flipper? Do you bowl the Doosra and if so how do you do it - what makes it spin?

Dave,

It is a typical left arm orthodox spin like leg spin.My key variations are change of pace with quicker delivery.I do bowl the googly that spins like off spin but i rarely use it as my leg spin and armer deliveries are much more effecient.

**Virendersingh.berthwal** · 26 Nov 2008, 05:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by someblokecalleddave

Blimey 6am! I thought I was fairly committed - that's amazing - no wonder your lot are beating our lot out there at the minute! How often do you practice - it sounds like you practice almost every day of the week?!

Yes,I do reach the practice ground by 6:30AM alongwith my off spinner.
It gives me the extra time for warm-up,strecthing and at times for knocking or spot bowling practice.
Usually we have nets from Tuesday to Friday but from this season we have nets on Saturday and Sunday as well.So it gives us 6 days in a week of practice.It is really great to have more and more practice.
Also i will be posting more photos in coming days.

**Virendersingh.berthwal** · 26 Nov 2008, 05:46

We had our match on last saturday on 21st.
The match was scheduled to start at 9:30AM but our players reached the venue by 9:30 itself.That annoyed our coach very much.The opposite team were ready by 9:15 itself.I was the first to arrive at 9:05 AM.
So no warm-up no team meeting happened just all were given a good hearing.
On top of that we lost the toss and were put to field on a good batting wicket.
Our fast bowlers did bowl very well to get the top order wickets on regular intervals but our fielding started to slip slowly after the 15 over.By the spinners came we were completely out of order and spinner got the beating inculding myself.
All the players were pathetic in fielding not able to stop the ball going between their feets,side by their feets and even failing to take clean catches.By the time 30th over was completed the captain was just watch all of it like a mute spectator and chaos continued till the 40th over.We bowled our fast bowlers and that effected our over rate.
In the end we were given a target of 267 runs within the alloted time of 4 PM.
Again we were suppose to start early by 13:15 PM;but started after 13:30PM because one opener went to get his bat and the other was having a late lunch.We started with unusual opening batsmen and then only the 3rd and 4th number slot were decided and not for the rest.
I was told to go for umpiring in middle which left me wondering about my batting number.
Still we batted reasonably OK and had good chance to win but time was out of our hands and it ended in a draw.
We scored 200+ runs in 23 overs losing 5 wickets.
So by run-rate we were the winner but with the overall performance we doubted to claim the winning title.
We were behing the over-rate right from the start of 1st inngs.
All of the bowling was done by fast bowlers and spinners were under-utilised which also affected the over-rate.
Most importantly poor fielding cost us unwanted runs which set us a big target.
According to our coach;we gave away 100+ runs due to bad fielding.
Alongwith fielding,bowling strategy needs to be worked out to ensure over-rate is in control and also the opposite batsmen don't get an opportunity to score heavily from fast bowlers.
Spinners are to be used more often and do the bulk of bowling.
With the tournament starting from next sunday;it looks a distant possibility and i have right fully pulled back my name from the playing 11.
I am not interested to play in the upcoming tournaments at all.

someblokecalleddave · 26 Nov 2008, 17:45

Why don't you want to play in the tournament? Will you still get to play in other matches?

By the way I've now got my Canon G9 so I'll be able to shoot some video. The only thing is the quality is so good I'm not sure I can reduce the file sizes so that they're usable on youtube!!! I'll try and get some shots of me bowling this Saturday and if I can I'll post them.

**Virendersingh.berthwal** · 27 Nov 2008, 12:25

Dave,

Most of the players are unhappy with the current actions and decision taken by our captain and coach related to team build-up.
That has also put off my interest in playing matches at for now.
I hope the team gets together and all the issues are resolved.
I had a private meeting with the captain on Sunday reporting him about the match details happened on Saturday and discussed a lot of issues with him related to team composition,bowling strategies,fielding,batting line-up and also nets.
He was surprised with lots of my observations and suggestions.
I even offered to lead the team comprising mostly of bench players.
I am sure overall he must be impressed by it as for the last two days i do see a change in his attitude.
He is regularly closely observing the nets procedure and even telling the coach the same things as suggested by me.
I hope that he will be able to balance the team again.
For now I have requested not to consider me for the upcoming matches till i tell him so which he has accepted.
For now my focus is more on fitness and practice.

someblokecalleddave · 28 Nov 2008, 18:28

Well, I hope it all comes together in a positive way and all the issues are resolved. It sounds like you're man with patience, so I'm sure you'll bide your time and make use of the time now available to you in a positive manner.

I've now got my G9 camera and have been testing it out. I've got an indoor pratice tomorrow with some mates so hopefully I'll be able to post the long awaited video footage!