Ganguly inspired me: S Sreesanth
Admitting that the aura of the Lord's mired his performance initially, the pacer says he worked out his game plan for Day 2.
Admitting that he had butterflies in his stomach on his maiden Lord's appearance, spunky Indian pacer S Sreesanth said he derived inspiration from Sourav Ganguly before hitting back with a vengeance on the second day of the ongoing cricket Test against England.
Sreesanth was all sound and no fury on the opening day and was clearly a disappointment with the ball. He confessed that he got overwhelmed playing at the historic venue and also by the sense of big occasion.
However, watching Ganguly bowl in the right areas inspired him to come back and redeem himself with a splendid three-wicket haul.
"Yeah, it was a case of nerves, playing at Lord's. That's exactly what happened to me on the first day," he said after polishing off the tail with fine figures of 4-1-11-3 on the second afternoon.
"However, when I was standing at fine leg and I saw 'Dada' (Sourav Ganguly) bowling, he really inspired me. He got (Alastair) Cook out, the first wicket, and showed us the way. I'm thankful to him to be honest."
"He was hitting the right areas and I said 'okay that's the way to go'. I like to make the ball move, make it move away from the batsmen. That's my strength and that's what I followed."
Of course, the three-hour rain delay on the second day helped him to gather his thoughts and work out his game plan. Since RP Singh bowled a few overs before him, he was pretty relaxed too.
"During the rain break, I was just relaxing, listening to some music and doing some stretching. Since RP Singh bowled a few overs ahead of me, it gave me some more time and collect my thoughts. He got a wicket and was hitting the right areas."
"I had decided in the morning that I would bowl in the right areas and not try too hard, that helped. I kept it simple. I told myself that 'I'll be myself' rather than thinking too much about the game and trying too hard. I just kept it simple and bowled in the right areas," he said.
"I was determined to hit the right areas and not waste the second new ball. That was the thought. Also the confidence level was much higher," Sreesanth said.
Asked for his opinion on the way the umpires handled Kevin Pietersens caught behind decision - the umpires referred the decision to the third umpire, after Simon Taufel had given him out, and the batsmen returned after behind told by his colleagues in the dressing room that he was not out - Sreesanth came up with a witty reply.
"The technology is there. But as long as he gets out next ball that's fine! Zaheer got him once so we were sure he can get him twice."
Then again asked which was the wicket he enjoyed, he said, "I enjoyed taking each wicket. It's an honour to play for the country and I feel very fortunate to be in the Indian dressing room and playing at Lord's. Every moment is very special for me. I'm enjoying every moment of it."
"When I took my first wicket at Lord's, it made me feel happy. The second wicket made me very happy and the third wicket made me feel very, very happy," he quipped.