March 29, 2024

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Pawan Negi Relives Debut Night

Pawan Negi Relives Debut Night

By: BCCI

Pawan Negi

The Indian team bus has in it a little bit of chatter, a few members of the Indian team are sharing a light laugh. Young Pawan Negi occupies a seat beside Suresh Raina; he is all ears nodding to what his partner in the bus is saying and in a bit goes into his zone in the confines of his seat.

It is meant to be a big day for Negi, he is about to make his debut and soon he will be marching out on the field wearing that India cap – a moment that every budding cricketer dreams of. A dream was about to be fulfilled and a challenge has been thrown at him to display his T20 prowess. Four hours later, Negi would return with a smile, a maiden wicket to his name and snapshots of the night that was.

“I got to know that I will be making my debut in the afternoon. Our bowling coach Bharat Arun told me that I will be playing this game,” the left-arm all-rounder said, reliving his debut to BCCI.TV. “I felt really great when I heard that news and I told myself that my moment was here and I would finally be playing for India. It is a huge thing to play for your country and I was feeling really good about myself.”

But that new had its fair share of butterflies and nervousness agreed Negi. “It felt normal when we were in our team meeting and then boarded the bus for the stadium. But just when we reached close to the ground, I had a bit of butterflies in my stomach. I was about to play my first game and there were a flurry of emotions as I walked into the dressing room. When Ravi (Shastri) sir gave me the cap and I wore it, it felt really great. All the players came up to me to congratulate and that moment felt really special.”

Amidst all the air of nervousness, Negi said he received a sense of calm from the seniors in the side and India captain MS Dhoni. “The seniors in the side really helped me to calm my nerves and they came up to me to boost my confidence levels. The entire team was really supportive and I never felt like I was playing my first match. Before walking out to the field, our captain MS Dhoni walked up to me and asked me not to think too much about the fact that I was making my debut. He asked me to relax and treat the game as a normal game and go about things normally.”

Negi came to bowl in the 13th over and didn’t have the best of starts with the ball. He was negotiated with ease by the UAE batsmen initially though Negi held himself strong to comeback well and pick a wicket in the fifth ball of his first over. Here, Negi explains his thought process while bowling his first spell in international cricket. “Before the start of the match, Harbhajan Singh came up to me and spoke about the pitch.

He said that the pitch is dry and if I bowled with a little flight, I would be able to turn the ball. I tried to do just that. When I took that ball in my hand, my complete focus was to pitch the ball in the right areas and bowl wicket to wicket. But, my nervousness got the better of me and I leaked runs.

“But once I got a wicket, I got a lot of confidence. MS Dhoni came up to me and told me that I was bowling under pressure. He asked me to loosen up and bowl freely. That really boosted my confidence and I am glad I could get over that initial phase and comeback with a better show with the ball in the next two overs. A wicket on debut is huge for anyone and I felt really great.”

Captain MS Dhoni too felt that young Negi did feel the pressure initially but did a good job to gather himself and bowl better in the overs to follow. “I feel he was slightly under pressure when he bowled his first over. It is not an easy job to play for India all of a sudden; you are under the pump and feel the pressure,” Dhoni said. “Gradually in the second and the third over, I felt as if he was more like himself which is a very good sign because if he gets an opportunity to play in the T20 World Cup, you only want him to fight the opposition and not his own pressure. From that point it was good to give him a game.”

For Negi it was a learning curve and he will be looking to take a lot of confidence from his first game for India. The 23-year old said he was making the most of his time with the Indian team – be it on the field or off it. He weighed each practice session and each interaction in gold.

“I speak a lot about bowling during our practice sessions with our lead spinners – R Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh. They always tell me about minute things as to where to bowl and how to bowl during certain situations. They both are very supportive and such advices really help a budding spinner during match situations. Suresh Raina also supports me off the field and keeps telling me what to do and what not.

“I also keep talking to our captain during our nets session with regards to my batting. I feel I have gained a lot of confidence after playing my first match. I will remember this moment for a long time. If I get more chances I will try my best to do well for the team.”

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