Mumbai, Oct 29 Mumbai all-rounder Tanush Kotian on Thursday said he has been putting into practice all that he learnt from his experiences at the higher levels of cricket, having worked with Australia great Nathan Lyon and Indian star Ravindra Jadeja.
Kotian, who was part of the Indian squad during the 2023-24 tour of Australia, recorded his career-best figures of 8/81 in first-class cricket in Mumbai’s 10-wicket thrashing of Haryana in the Ranji Trophy here on Thursday.
“I have worked with Morne Morkel. I also talked to Nathan Lyon, who guided me. I was also with (Ravindra) Jadeja,” Kotian told reporters when asked about his time on tours of Australia with the Indian team and as a net bowler earlier this year in Sri Lanka.
“(Like in Australia), the bounce is extra, so how can I bowl more over-spin balls… Over there, Nathan Lyon guided me with the run-up and how to use the over-spin.”
“Whatever I learnt there, I’m working on that and working with seam positions and variations, so that is helping,” Kotian said.
Kotian said one of the challenges for spinners is bowling with the Kookaburra ball, but Indian bowlers have been working on it at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
“It is always fun bowling with the SG balls but also with the Kookaburra, whose seam goes inside after 30 overs, making it difficult for the spinners,” he said.
“When we (West Zone) won the Duleep Trophy (in 2022-23) with Ajinkya Rahane as captain, we had played with the Kookaburra ball and I had done well that year. Even in the COE, when we go for five-six day camps with Sunil Joshi sir, we practise with different balls and that is fun to work on,” Kotian added.
Kotian said he has put in conscious efforts to improve his bowling over the years.
“I have had four years of progress and improvement in my bowling. I did a lot of tours, I was also with the India team,” he said.
“They all guided me a lot, like I was practising with (BCCI COE spin bowing coach) Sunil Joshi sir, Jatin (Paranjape) sir and Rajesh (Sanil) sir (childhood coach and mentor). A lot of people have guided me, and I am trying to use that experience in my bowling.”
“I have improved a lot in line and length. I have brought in two-three variations which are helping me in deceiving and beating the batsman. I am trying to do that in every match and working on my accuracy as well.”
Kotian did not read much into the competition with other off-spin bowling all-rounders, especially Madhya Pradesh’s Saransh Jain, who claimed 13 wickets in their comprehensive win over Bihar.
Saransh had made his Test debut earlier this year during India’s two-Test series in Sri Lanka, where Kotian was a net bowler with the team.
“No, it’s not in my mind. Even though they selected Saransh Jain, he’s doing well. I’m doing well too. But my aim is to perform as well as I can for the Mumbai team, whether it’s the Irani Cup or Duleep Trophy, wherever I go. In every match, I want to perform like that,” he said.
“I don’t know about the Border-Gavaskar Trophy; that’s up to the selectors,” he added.
Kotian said taking eight wickets on a challenging surface at the BKC Ground, where the slow pitch had cracks but still made the bowlers toil, was a relief.
“It’s a relief. I was waiting for this opportunity; I was trying to bowl as much as I could. I think this is the first time I’ve bowled this much in a match, around 40-50 overs. I’m giving the captain confidence that I can bowl this much and can get that many wickets as well,” the 28-year-old said.
(PTI News)
