Bravo tells of MSD’s magic in stunning win
When he took the field in Chennai for Kolkata Knight Riders, at 44 years and 81 days Brad Hogg became the oldest cricketer to play in the IPL. But the only impact of age on the chinaman bowler from Australia is that it has made him wilier with the cricket ball.KKR came second in a stunning last-ball finish against Chennai Super Kings but it was mainly due to the batting failure.
The bowlers did a splendid job of restricting CSK for 134 after Gautam Gambhir elected to bowl first.Hogg’s figures of 4-0-18-1, although outstanding prima facie, hardly revealed the guile with which he bowled to some of the best players of spin bowling. He read the batsmen’s mind based on their early movements and offered the perfect delivery for the situation.
His tussle with Suresh Raina was gripping stuff and the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja was reward for that.In a chat with iplt20.com after KKR’s two-run loss, Hogg called himself fortunate to be playing the sport he so loves even at a ripe age.
Delighted to be back playing in the Pepsi IPL, he spoke of the joy he experiences in bowling to the best players of spin bowling.Not the right result in the end but KKR’s bowling performance was splendid.Yes, but in the end you play to win.
We got close but fell two runs short. The way Ashwin and Jadeja bowled in that middle period really put us on the backfoot. We have to make sure that we don’t take our pedal off the mettle when we are ahead in the run-rate.
At one point we needed run-a-ball but we missed those opportunities to just tick the strike over and play with ones.Let’s talk about the good stuff – your bowling. You’re the wily old fox of the IPL!It is amazing to be back playing in the IPL.
I am just fortunate to be still playing at my age. I have had a stop-start career and it has been a bit of a fairytale to still keep going. My team mates at KKR are a great bunch of blokes and I am enjoying being a part of it all.
We want to ensure that we do the right thing on the field as players but we also want to get involved in the culture and see what India is all about. I have been fortunate to be part of the Kolkata franchise and see what life is like in the Bengal region.Did you enjoy your little mini-contest with Raina today?I really enjoy bowling to Indian batsmen because they really test your craft.
In the last 20-30 years there hasn’t been an Australian spinner who has come here and dominated the batsmen. It is good to test your skills against the best and that is why you play the game.You really seemed one step ahead of the batsmen today, adjusting your length and line gauging the batsman’s next move perfectly.
A bit of poker there?There is always a bit of poker there. But in the end you just want to put the ball where you are planning to. If you are good enough or lucky enough to catch the batsman moving a bit early, you can adjust a bit.
Sometimes you don’t pick it up and you get punished. You have to have your wits about you and be in your game.Early spin to McCullum – other teams have done it in the last two games.
Is that something you picked up or was it always the plan?We have our team meetings and plans but not everything goes to plan. Sometimes the skipper might go out there and depending on the scenario and conditions he might change his thinking. If the pacers were doing their job and got a couple of breakthroughs I am sure he would have continued with them.
We are just fortunate that we have the bowling options to be able to change it up against the opposition. Piyush Chawla came on and had him in the fifth over.Bowling in the powerplay or bowling at the death – what is tougher?I am not sure what it tougher – each scenario has a different set of challenges.
It depends on what kind of wicket there is. This one was conducive to spin and I got away with it. Sometimes when you bowl in the first six overs, the batsman takes extra risk and you can get rewarded.
It can also damage your bowling figures. One common factor in both scenarios is keeping your nerve..
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