Interview - Happy to be talked about as India-material bowler: Assam seamer Krishna Das

Krishna Das has been in great form for Assam this season (Image courtesy of Zee News)

His father toiled hard in the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) before he retired many years back. His youngest son – Krishna Das - among four sons kept plugging away on the cricket field trying to pursue his burning passion of becoming a cricketer.

Brought up in the humble surroundings of Barpeta, the youngster steadily graduated through the ranks and emerged as Assam medium-pace spearhead. The 25-year-old, who has earned the sobriquet ‘Barpeta Express’, soared into limelight snaffling 44 wickets from 8 games in the 2015-16 Ranji season.

His performance punctuated with five five-wicket hauls and two ten-wicket hauls – a big factor in Assam beating much-fancied teams like Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan and settling for draws against robust sides like Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Bengal and securing their passage to the quarterfinal knockout phase.

The soft-spoken youngster was drafted into the senior Ranji team in 2005 as a 15-year-old net bowler ahead of their tie against Kerala in Dibrugarh, by K Sanath Kumar, who is incidentally in his second stint as Assam team head coach after having served out a three-year stint. Krishna spoke about his bowling exploits and much more in an exclusive interview.

Excerpts:

Q Assam was never considered a potent force in the Indian domestic cricket over the years, but performances in recent times do indicate that the team has infused that ‘competitive element’ reaching the quarterfinal knockout phase of the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy in a group that saw much-fancied teams like Karnataka, Delhi and Maharastra fall by the wayside?

Assam team have been rapidly improving over the last few years. The way we managed to qualify for the quarterfinal knockout phase shows that we are becoming a robust unit. We beat Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan and drawn our games against Maharastra and Karnataka. Overall, the team admirably led by Gokul Sharma, have pulled their weight when it mattered. It has all been a collective effort by the boy.

Q No Assam cricketer has ever played for India – you have picked 44 wickets from 8 games this season, including five five-fors and two ten-wicket hauls and you are among the top five wicket-takers this seasons. Your performance has triggered a talk that maybe Assam finally have one who could play for India be it T20, ODI or Test cricket.

I feel happy when people think of being as a potential cricketer to play for India. During one of our Ranji matches in Guwahati, the national selector from south MSK Prasad (who recently replaced Roger Binny) came here to see the match and praised me for my bowling efforts and told me to continue working hard.

Q You had two five-wicket hauls against Rajasthan besides three other five-wicket hauls – two of which ended in ten-wicket hauls. Which has been the most satisfying bowling spell this season?

I cherish all my performances this season, but I think my 7-21 against Odisha in Cuttack was hugely satisfying simply because I was able to contribute to my team’s fightback when we bowled out Odisha for 88 after we batted first and were shot out for 92, gaining a slender four-run lead.

Q You made your Ranji Trophy debut against Kerala at Dibrugarh in 2005 under current Assam team head coach K Sanath Kumar – who earlier had a three-year coaching stint – from 2005-2008 – picked you in the side after seeing you bowl in the nets.

For me, K Sanath Kumar sir is like God. It is not often that a coach will see a 15-year-old bowl in the nets and included him in the senior Ranji side. I still remember I snaffled four wickets in that tie against Kerala.

It gave me a lot of joy when K Sanath Kumar sir was again present as head coach when I picked up my 100th Ranji stick against Delhi in Guwahati ten years later.

Q It must have been a special feeling when you prised out Gautam Gambhir to bag your 100th Ranji Trophy wicket.

Gautam Gambhir is a big cricketer, someone I used to look up during my initial days in cricket and to have him as my 100th Ranji scalp was indeed special.

I normally bowl round the wicket to left-handers and I still remember during Delhi’ second innings Arup Das has sustained a hand injury and I started bowling operations – Unmukt Chand flicked my first ball for three runs and then Gautam Gambhir offered a defensive blade to my next ball, and my third delivery nipped back into him as he was caught at the crease.

Q You and your opening bowling partner Arup Das are on a roll this season – you have snared 44 wickets while Arup captured 22 wickets; both have shouldered the main wicket-taking responsibilities of the Assam team.

I have bowled in tandem with Arup for many years now. We are childhood friends and both hail from Barpeta. We have played together at the district, various age-group tourneys as well as at the state level.

We complement each other well and performed well together. It’s all about building pressure from both ends and dry up the runs. Sometimes he stifles the batsmen and I get wickets, and sometimes I keep the batters on a tight leash and he gets the wickets.

Q How comfortable are you with the sobriquet ‘Barpeta Express’?

I think people call me ‘Barpeta Express’ since I hail from Barpeta. I can clock bowling speeds up to 135kmph and will strive hard to surpass that in future.