In South Africa, fuller length doesn’t work: Mukesh

CAPE TOWN: He should have played ahead of Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna in the Test series opener against South Africa but when Mukesh Kumar finally got his chance at Newlands, the Indian team realised what exactly it missed during the mauling in Centurion.

While the seasoned duo of Mohammed Siraj (7 wickets) and Jasprit Bumrah (8 wickets) did the bulk of the damage, Mukesh was the ideal third seamer with four wickets in the second Test, which included two top-order dismissals in the second innings.

He was bowling slightly back of length but was still able to move the ball late.

“I think I have been able to fulfil the role assigned by the team management. I am satisfied with my bowling and the best part is that I have worked hard and tried my best,” Mukesh told reporters about his performance during India’s series-levelling win.

A smart operator, Mukesh had quickly realised that despite being comparatively slow in terms of pace generated by the two senior speedsters, he can’t bowl too full on South African tracks.

“There’s a lot of difference between bowling on these kind of tracks compared to Indian pitches,” said Mukesh.

He elaborated his strategy.

“In India, when you try to bowl fuller length the ball moves in the air, but here, if you try to bowl too full, you get smashed.

“So we decided that we will bowl between 6 to 8 metre length (back of length). And since there is lot of bounce on offer you can get wickets.”

Two days after India lost in Centurion, Mukesh bowled to skipper Rohit Sharma at the nets for an hour.

So what did the skipper tell you?

“He always tells us about areas to bowl when we seek feedback in the nets. They would tell us ‘if you pitch the ball in this particular length and channel you can trouble us’.”

Hailing from Bihar’s Gopalganj district, Mukesh’s late father, who used to drive a cab in Kolkata, wanted him to join the CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) but he failed to clear the physical test before finding his calling in tennis ball circuit in Kolkata.

Kolkata turned out to be the ‘City of Joy’ for Mukesh when former Bengal speedster Ranadeb Bose found the then talented but malnourished young man who was a cut above the rest.

“Ranadeb Bose made an immense contribution to my development as a fast bowler. The coaches at NCA and him (Bose) are people I fall back upon if I face any technical issues with my bowling,” Mukesh remembered his first coach with respect and fondness.

He is the first international cricketer from Gopalganj, and in that part of the world, he is now a celebrity.