Will this Sachin play cricket for England? |
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Wednesday September 20, 10:55 AM
London, Sep 20 (IANS) Sachin could soon play Test cricket for England - not Tendulkar but Sachin Vaja of Ilford who impressed experts with his spin bowling so much that they are already talking of a potential answer to Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan.
This week, Sachin Vaja, 22, was one of two young cricketers to be awarded the inaugural Lord's Taverners Jim Laker Spin Scholarship at the Savoy. He is said to have rubber wrists and can bowl a mystery ball, similar to Muralitharan's doosra.
If all goes well, Sachin will be the latest to join the list of Indian-origin cricketers to play for England. The most recent entry in the list is yet another spinner, Monty Panesar, who has now been selected for the forthcoming Ashes tour.
Sachin was discovered by Neil Burns, the chief executive of the London County Cricket Club, and could be at the beginning of a successful career, according to The Times. He went to bowl before talent scouts almost by accident.
Sachin said: 'I was helping my old man clear out the shed, so me and my mate had gone to the junkyard and on our way back, I get a phone call from a mate reading the Ilford Recorder, saying there are some talent scouts in Ilford.
'He said 'why don't you have a bowl?' We get to a roundabout and straight is home, but if I take a right I go to the cricket in Valentine's Park. I'm wearing ripped clothes and I'm with a dodgy mate. But I go right.
'My life has completely changed from those 12 balls I bowled.'
Reports say that Sachin's father, who moved to England from India at 14, was not that keen on him pursuing cricket until this year. The 22-year-old took up bowling off spin only two years ago.
David Parsons, the England and Wales Cricket Board's spin bowling coach, who selected Sachin for the award, said: 'I was at Canterbury and it was the day before the England A vs Pakistan match and Neil Burns had brought Sachin to bowl spin at the players in the nets.
'It is not often you are stopped in your tracks and it wasn't just me, Peter Moores (the national cricket centre director) was there. Here was a young bowler with an unorthodox action in the Murali mould.
'Ian Bell was batting in the nets and you are really watching him, then this bowler spins one from a long way outside off stump into his pads and next ball spins one past his outside edge.'
According to The Times, Sachin was the only one of 12 of the brightest spin prospects called up for a spin trial in Derby a fortnight ago who had no county after his name.
'What we saw in Derby confirmed what we saw in Canterbury,' Parsons said. 'He is an exciting talent, he puts a lot of energy into his action and a lot of revolutions on the ball.'
Sachin is scheduled to travel to Mumbai for two weeks of training before beginning his first winter of cricket.
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