Andhra’s KV Sasikanth had an impressive Ranji Trophy where he picked 29 wickets in 7 matches and helped his side make the quarter-finals of the 2022-23 edition. The lanky seamer was rewarded for his exploits with the ball and found a place in Hanuma Vihari-led South Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy which gets underway in Bengaluru on June 28.
The accurate medium pacer has had fair share of IPL experience under his belt too as he has been part of the RCB camp as a net bowler in the past. Like most youngsters, he too wants to feature in the cash-rich league as a player but for now is focused on the bigger goal.
In an exclusive conversation with News18 CricketNext, the 27-year-old says the aim is to play Test cricket for India.
“I was a bit disappointed of not being a part of the IPL. But my aim is to play for the Indian Test team. I’m just focusing on that. IPL and all will come automatically if we get into the Test team. I’m not really thinking much about it, if it comes, great,” says Sasikanth.
Sasikanth has a knack of picking wickets and bowling at a brilliant economy rate (2.71 in First-class cricket).
In a chat with CricketNext last year, the medium pacer had talked about his mantra of “not giving away easy runs” and how bowling in the right areas continuously has helped him maintain that kind of bowling economy rate.
He stuck to the plan throughout the red-ball season and didn’t complicate his approach, both with bat and ball.
“I’m just focusing on the basics. Whatever I do in the Ranji Trophy, I’m just following it. I do my basic bowling and batting drills. I generally bat at a brisk pace but at the same time, I can bat patiently. I’m just focusing on playing on the merit of the ball and try to play a little longer,” says Sasikanth.
The right-armer further talked about his fitness regime and added that he has been concentrating on strength training and bowling endurance.
“ACA conducts a lot of camps. We go to our academy and have all the facilities available there. We train there under the guidance of our coaches and do our drills. I personally focus more on the fitness thing. I personally concentrate on strength training. You know, fast bowlers need more strength and bowling endurance. So, I do a lot of bowling endurance and at the same I also do strength training as well.
“I do three days of strength training and two or probably three days of endurance training. Accordingly, our trainer manages our workload. One day, I do full run up bowling, other day, I do some basic, shorten up just to stay into the groove,” says Sasikanth.
Switching Formats
The domestic season gets underway with Duleep Trophy, will be followed by Deodhar Trophy before action shifts to Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Ranji Trophy. Every player will be required to make that seamless transition between formats as the season progresses.
Quizzed about this ‘shift’, the Andhra cricketer who has 105 wickets to his name in 29 First-class matches, was of the opinion that making this shift is a bit difficult but added that it is all about getting the basics right.
“It is a bit difficult to make the shift for sure, but we have to get on with it as quickly as possible. That’s how cricket is. If we have the basics right, then we can work on the variations and all. You just have to be regular with the red ball. When you are good with the red ball, you can automatically switch to white ball. I know white ball has some variations,” concludes Sasikanth.
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