Just relish it!

Bowling 91 overs in two Ranji games, Maharashtra seamer Samad Fallah doesn't see it as any kind of workload

Suhrid Barua, Pune Mirror, November 14, 2008

His radiant smile hardly indicates the kind of work ethic Samad Fallah indulges in. Grabbing the responsibility of being the pace spearhead of the Maharashtra Ranji side (remember his regular opening bowler partner Wahid Sayyid is sitting out because of injury) with both hands, Fallah has pegged away manfully, rising to the occasion consistently.

The left-arm seamer has bowled his heart out and hasn't allowed the nature of the surface dent his wickets column. His 6-102 in the first innings against Andhra bears testimony to that. So how does it feel being the spearhead of the Maharashtra Ranji bowling attack? "It feels good if you feel like that because to be honest I've never thought on those lines. The all I know is that when I've the ball on my hand, I just want to keep hurling it at the opposition batsmen and get them out," he sounds maturity-personified. Bowling ninety one overs in two matches inside ten days must be some kind of workload for any bowler, let alone Fallah, but the Pune lad says he is up for it.

"By God's grace, I never had any injury niggles and have always stayed fit. Even in the pre-season practice games I was bowling nearly thirty overs a day and let me tell you that the amount of bowling I am doing now, I really don't see it as a huge workload," explains Fallah, who actually relishes the situation when the onus is on him to deliver. "I love challenges. The bigger the challenge, the better you get. There can be no bigger way of contributing for your team by getting wickets when your side needs the most," said the Hyderabad-born seamer.

Hasn't his exploits with the ball already made him a 'hero' in the side? "Please don't put me under pressure. I'm a humble guy who only concentrates on doing well for the side. The day I think like that (of being a hero) I will be finished as a cricketer," Fallah said, guarding against any sort of complacency.

Bowling workload
O M R W
33-2-131-1 vs Tamil Nadu
36 6 102 6 vs Andhra22
4 57 2 vs Andhra-
91 12 290 9