They came for Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is Chennai Super Kings’ captain in the IPL. Puducherry is less than 200 kilometres away from Chennai and most of the stands at the CAP Siechem ground had Chepauk vibe to them, with fans turning up in yellow and doing the Whistle podu for every move of Gaikwad. But they soon warmed up to Shedge and ended up staying for him.
Added to the India A squad as a last-minute replacement for Hardik, Shedge bagged figures of 7-0-40-4. India A suffered a heavy loss, but it felt like Shedge had won over hundreds of fans in Puducherry. A few kids even stayed back late to catch another glimpse of Shedge, though the venue is cut off from the city centre.
Replacing Hardik, Shedge did a fairly good impersonation of Hardik on the day, with some help from Hardik himself.
While Shedge doesn’t have express pace, he can hit the mid-130kph range and keep banging it away on a hard length. On a fresh surface that offered encouraging bounce in Puducherry, Shedge also got some of his hard-length deliveries to skid into the batters, making life even harder for the Australians. According to Cricinfo’s logs, 28 of the 42 balls he bowled on Tuesday pitched on a good length or short of it. And three of his four wickets were down to short of a good length.
“I think when you’re bowling in different situations, you learn a lot about yourself. Especially when you’re around people who are high achievers and bowlers who have bowled well in tough situations and won games for India, you learn a lot.”
Suryansh Shedge
“I think because of my action, that [hard-length] ball comes quite naturally to me,” Shedge said. “That’s what I’ve been trying to work hard on even when bowling in the nets. If I can master that length, it will always give me an upper hand against batters.
“So, my stock ball would be the hard-length ball and the surprise delivery would be a slower one or a fuller-length ball that is quicker because then the batsman is guessing. Then my stock ball will give me more benefit.”
When Arshad Khan and Yash Thakur erred too full in search of swing early doors, they were picked away. Shedge was also picked away for a brace of fours in his first over when he overpitched the ball, but he quickly rallied to drag his length – and Australia A’s innings – back.
Shedge himself is working his way back from injury (quadriceps), but he hit the ground running and showed that he can adapt to whatever is thrown at him. Shedge only started taking his secondary skill – bowling – seriously when he was around 19, but in four years since he has made good strides forward.
BBL stars Liam Scott and Nikhil Chaudhary are used to playing on bouncy tracks in Australia, but Shedge discomfited them by having the ball kick up at them.
“I think when you’re bowling in different situations, you learn a lot about yourself,” Shedge said. “That exposure to different situations has taught me a lot. Especially when you’re around people who are high achievers and bowlers who have bowled well in tough situations and won games for India, you learn a lot. That’s what I’ve tried to do in the last year wherever I’m and whichever games I’m playing.
“That has helped me a lot because last season in Vijay Hazare [Trophy] where I sat out seven games, then in IPL the first six games I was out, and from there on continuously I’ve been playing. So, I needed to be switched on for that, and I needed to learn as much as I could so that when the day comes and the opportunity arrives, I’m ready for it.”
“Yes, I think it [pressure] brings out the best,” Shedge said. “Since I was young, it has always brought the best out of me, and I wanted it to stay the same way. Whenever I’ve scored runs, it has always been when the team needed it. So, yeah, I want to continue with the same aspect of my game and contribute in all departments.”
Shedge feels that being exposed to different situations – both as a bowler and batter – has enabled him to grow into a more rounded player.
“That situational awareness helps you,” Shedge said. “Secondly, it gets you ready for any type of situation, and whatever the situation demands, you need to get it out of yourself. You can’t say that if I batted at No. 5 and I’m sent at No. 7, I won’t give my best. It has taught me that. In that [A] series also [in Sri Lanka], I batted at Nos. 6 and 7. So, I try to give my best in everything given to me.”
Half of Shedge’s 16 List A games have come for India A. He has made a good fist of it – both at home and away in Sri Lanka. ‘Project Shedge’ is taking shape nicely for India.
Deivarayan Muthu is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo