Deccan Chargers captain Adam Gilchrist stood amongst his team mates, ready to cut a cake to celebrate their victory over Mumbai Indians on Saturday night, waiting only for Pragyan Ojha, the architect of that win. The left-arm spinner’s 3-21 had put the brakes on Mumbai’s chase, and the 22-year-old was busy signing autographs even as his team waited to kick off celebrations.

Ojha stands at a critical juncture in his cricketing career: he has been with the Indian team for close to a year, but has remained on the fringes of the playing XI. But six wickets in three games, giving away just 62 runs in 12 overs at a remarkable bowling average of 10.66 and economy rate of 5.16, the Hyderabadi is proving to be a priceless pearl for the Hyderabad franchise.

His critics still find fault with his bowling style — the conventional flight is missing and he generally prefers to fire them in — but Ojha isn’t really bothered. “The fact that I don’t flight my deliveries and bowl a lower trajectory doesn’t mean I am afraid of getting hit by the batsman, or that I am running away from a challenge. I feel the requirements for each format are different. In Test cricket, you can work batsmen out, in ODI cricket you can mix and match your deliveries, but in Twenty20, success depends solely in your ability to contain them,” he says candidly.

Having spent a year travelling with the team, and talking to senior players both in his team and opposition camps, Ojha says he has come a long way. He has spoken at length with Daniel Vettori, Murali Kartik, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, and that has helped in executing plans. “The tips I got from them were very useful, and though it’s frustrating to be a part of the squad and not being able to be a regular part of the playing XI, I have decided to just be patient, happy to be part of the squad and soak in as much cricket education the seniors provide.

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