Pragyan Ojha Needed Time To Understand The Demands Of The T20 Games

Not a lot of people backed the shorter format of the game to click when it first came to the fore. The Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) wasn’t too keen either to play the shorter format of the game. The BCCI’s interest was reflected in their actions as the Indian team before going into the inaugural World T20 championship had played just one T20 international game against South Africa.

India though surprised one and all by winning the title under the young captain MS Dhoni by beating the arch-rivals Pakistan in the final. After the massive success of the World T20 in 2007, the BCCI chalked out the blueprint for the Indian Premier League (IPL) which become a massive hit among the fans. Indian spinner Pragyan Ojha was a very successful bowler in the IPL for his franchise Deccan Chargers Hyderabad.

Ojha too was surprised the way the T20 fever kept growing among the fans and recalled how he was grown up watching the Tests and ODIs. 31-year-old said, “I had grown up watching Test and one day cricket. Those were imprinted on my mind.”

As per the spinner, it took time to understand what the shortest format of the game was demanded from the players. The Hyderabad player played the early years of IPL with the veterans like VVS Laxman, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Herschelle Gibbs in the side. According to the left-arm spinner sharing the space with those legends boosted the confidence of budding players.

Ojha had very successful stints in the IPL as he was one of the early birds who got into the grove of the T20 cricket. He knew that the batsmen will try to go after the bowlers as soon as they could, given the format gave them very fewer overs to play and create an impact on the game. He also mentioned that field placements in T20 cricket plays a very important role.

While recalling his best moment in the IPL, Ojha termed foxing former Indian skipper MS Dhoni with flight, pace or line and length will remain one of his most cherished IPL memory.