Naman Ojha not bothered about national selection, focusing on his game

Naman Ojha who is a veteran in the Indian domestic circuit remains one of the very few unlucky remains who continues to remain in oblivion even after notching up exceptional performances at the domestic circuit consistently. The 34-year-old Madhya Pradesh wicketkeeper first received a call-up for the national team in 2010 when regular keeper MS Dhoni was rested. He eventually made his Test debut 5 years later when he played the final Test against Sri Lanka. Even this time he wasn’t the first choice keeper as he was a replacement for the injured Wriddhiman Saha.

In the 2013-14 season he smashed three consecutive centuries against Australia A and made over 800 runs in the Ranji season. But despite his consistent showing he failed to cement his place in the national team. At the age of 34, he knows with all the youngsters around he knows his international career is all but over but he is not too much bothered about that and focusses on the job at hand. With time he has realised that thinking about a national call-up only affects your performance even in the domestic circuit.

During an interaction with Times of India Ojha said that he has stopped thinking about the reason behind him not getting selected for the national team. “I’m not even thinking about all these at the moment. I have stopped over-thinking. I have realised that it doesn’t help. It only brings frustration. If I keep thinking about why am I not making it to the national side despite being there at the threshold for so long, I will never get big scores even in domestic matches. I have been focusing on my batting and ‘keeping and hopefully will do better in the coming months,” he said.

Despite his consistent showing, Ojha was snubbed for the India A team for the tour of Australia for which he was originally chosen as the captain. Though he played the two unofficial Tests but his omission from the squad affected his performance and he could make only 21 in the two Tests. A return to the Ranji team was too cut short after the veteran cricketer sustained an injury before the start of the season.

Also read: Parvez Rasool ‘s father lashes out at son for chewing gum during National Anthem

“It’s very difficult to remain calm and focused when you go through this kind of situation for so long. It’s almost impossible. But I try to convince myself and practice yoga regularly so that I don’t lose my focus. I haven’t had a good Ranji season as I suffered a side strain and still feel slight pain. At this point in time, my only focus is to bat and keep well and help my team do well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy,” he concluded.