But Kohli\u2019s turn with the ball wouldn\u2019t come as Delhi\u2019s bowlers, led by Shivam Sharma\u2019s 5-33, bundled out Railways for a paltry 114 to win by an innings and 19 runs. Though the bonus point win wasn\u2019t enough for Delhi to enter the knockouts, they can still take some positives from their campaign \u2013 one of them being Shivam, whose third five-wicket haul in first-class cricket came in his comeback season.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cAs a cricketer, struggle is a part of life. Talking about the comeback, it's been in the making for two years. In my mind, when I was away for two years, I wanted to come back at any cost by playing in local tournaments, training, and practices. This was in my mind, as I wanted to perform well. I didn't think about selection. It was my job to perform in local tournaments. My focus was to perform well and come back,\u201d he said to reporters at the end of the match.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In his time away from the game, Shivam recalled the work put in the last two-three years to get back into Delhi team\u2019s red-ball scheme of things. Apart from improving his off-spin, which is the stock delivery, Shivam participated in Goswami and Ganesh Dutt tournaments, Lala Raghubir Hot weather competition and Gold Cup in Dehradun.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
If this wasn\u2019t enough, Shivam also featured in J.P. Atray tournament, competitions in Maharashtra like the Aurangabad Premier League, traveling to play games in Gujarat, Calcutta and playing two-three tournaments in Assam. With his coach Naresh Jain sir providing valuable help, Shivam also moved away from bowling too fast, something which came into his game due to a healthy diet of playing T20 games.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cIn the last few years, I have travelled a lot to play and gain experiences in different places and now I think I am getting the benefits. I have done more single wicket bowling practice, and bowled a lot of balls in a day. Because it is days cricket, you have to bowl long spells, so I did a lot of spot bowling.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cYes, it (playing T20 matches) did have an effect on my bowling. I have been playing T20 cricket for the last 6-7 years, and began bowling faster, so I got used to it. Days cricket doesn't work in Delhi, so had to work specially hard for that to be capable of bowling 20-40 overs. For the last two years, I had to work hard to curb my way of bowling faster.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ahead of day three\u2019s play, with evidence of variable bounce in the previous day, Shivam spoke to bowling coach V Aravind and head coach Sarandeep Singh to decide on a strategy and get a favourable result for Delhi. It was decided that Shivam would bowl with a faster pace to get batters out.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
It did wonders as four of his five wickets in the second innings were left-handers. While Vivek Singh and Mohammad Saif were also guilty of poor shot selection, Karn Sharma and Rahul Sharma couldn\u2019t do much about their dismissals to Shivam.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI spoke to them (Aravind and Sarandeep) this morning before play began in terms of what I can do on this pitch? The ball was keeping low in some parts of day two as well. So, I spoke to them about it and they told me to keep the pace fast, because the bounce on the wicket was low and there was some wear and tear on the pitch too. Also, we were warming up our bowling before the match and speaking to the coaches helped a lot,\u201d he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Shivam\u2019s performance in derailing Railways\u2019 second innings is something which Delhi selectors will think of when selecting the team for the next domestic season, especially this coming after Nishunk Birla of Chandigarh and Saurashtra\u2019s widely experienced Ravindra Jadeja had outbowled Delhi\u2019s tweakers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Shivam was optimistic in his view that Delhi\u2019s other spinners, including their leading wicket-taker Ayush Badoni are in their learning stage and will come good soon. \u201cThere was a little problem in the spin bowling department because no spinners took wickets in heaps.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThere was a good pitch in the last match, and could have done well, but we are learning slowly as the spinners are young and are in their learning phase. So I think there is potential and that they are bowling well. Though they are not performing in the match, they are good bowlers and we will learn more.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThe way he has performed, Ayush has good potential. He has a good idea of bowling, and looks like a street-smart cricketer. He doesn't have the ability to spin a lot, but he has a good off-spinner mind.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
With Ravichandran Ashwin retiring, India are on the lookout for their next off-spinner in Tests and Shivam thinks the cupboard isn\u2019t bare. \u201cThere are good off-spinners in India right now. Tanush Kotian is doing well, and Washington Sundar is there too. So, there is scope for off spin bowling in the Indian team. But I don't think about the future. I play one match at a time. I don't think about the next match, as I look to perform in the games I play.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He signed off by conceding the match\u2019s swift end took by surprise, but is now pleased with finding his good red-ball bowling rhythm on a day where fans wished for Kohli to bowl. \u201cNo, I didn't think that the match would finish so soon. I thought that we will get a good result in our favour.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
With Ravichandran Ashwin retiring, India are on the lookout for their next off-spinner in Tests and Shivam thinks the cupboard isn\u2019t bare. \u201cThere are good off-spinners in India right now. Tanush Kotian is doing well, and Washington Sundar is there too. So, there is scope for off spin bowling in the Indian team. But I don't think about the future. I play one match at a time. I don't think about the next match, as I look to perform in the games I play.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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