Undeterred Pragyan Ojha waits for the nod

Indian players Pragyan Ojha (L) and Ravichandran Ashwin

New Delhi: The Indian left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, underterred after being shown the door for the New Zealand tour in favour of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, is hopeful of finding a spot in the national side.

“I just keep my cool and focus on my game rather than thinking about my selection. Selection matters are not in my hands but what is in my hand is my own performance. My job is to perform for the country and keep myself focussed on job at hand,” said Ojha.

“These types of thoughts fill your mind with negativity and hamper your performance. It’s important to remain positive and leave selection matters in the hands of our selectors.

“Selection matters are something which you cannot question. My job is to perform whenever I get a chance to don the national colours,” the 27-year-old added.

Ojha reiterated that he didn’t want to pressurise himself too much given his non selection in the team.

“If I start thinking about all this seriously, I would be putting a lot of pressure on myself. I don’t want these factors to effect my game. I will wait for my chances and I am confident that one day I will get it. I don’t want to get into the negative side of my thoughts”.

Ojha would want to consider himself unlucky for the exclusion from the national squad as Ashwin did not impress with the ball in South Africa and still found a place ahead of him.

When quizzed about this Ojha had this to say, “At the end of the day, we are all human beings. Sometimes, you feel disappointed but how do you come out of that phase, how do you make a comeback, that’s make for a better cricketer. That’s the biggest art. Only by performing consistently, you can make a comeback into the team. My job is to remain focussed.”

Also the fact that Jadeja and Ashwin add skill with the bat, and that the wickets in New Zealand don’t really aid the spinners, may have resulted in Ojha’s exclusion from the team.

Ojha, although, had a few words of advice for Ashwin, who has taken just one wicket in the last seven international matches.

“He is also a human being and ups and downs come in the life of a sportsperson. He is a good spinner. It’s about making a strong comeback and prove yourself. Had I been in his place and going through the same lean phase, I would have worked harder and let my ball do the talking. I wouldn’t have allowed the critics to sit back and talk about my performance.”