Kolkata: Young Ishan Porel Sunday credited out-of-favour Bengal pacer Ashok Dinda for his five-wicket haul against Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy semifinal here Sunday.
Dinda, who is Bengal’s second leading wicket taker behind Utpal Chatterjee, was suspended on disciplinary grounds on the eve of their match against Andhra and has remained out-of-favour since then.
The Porel-led young Bengal pace attack bundled out Karnataka for 122 despite the visitors boasting of a strong batting line up, including the likes of India opener KL Rahul, Manish Pandey and Karun Nair.
Porel, who returned with the figures for 5/39 in the first innings, said Dinda had advised him to focus on bowling in the right areas.
“I spoke to him last night and he asked us to bowl in a disciplined way. He told us, ‘don’t try too much, and just bowl in right areas and you will get wickets’,” Porel said at end of day two.
“It definitely worked. I remembered what he said while bowling. He has so many wickets for Bengal on this wicket and has got a lot more experience,” he added.
The 21-year-old, who is leading the Bengal pace department, said it’s not an added pressure on him.
“We have been bowling well. If you see the Indian attack they back and applaud each other’s performances. The same thing we are doing here. The hard work we have put in is paying off.”
Porel troubled his Kings XI Punjab skipper Rahul a couple of times before the star player was dismissed by Mukesh Kumar. “He (Rahul) is a lot more calm and composed. He has got all the time to play the ball. He faces 140kmph bowling all the time. It was easy for him here.”
“He got out to a poor shot because we showed a lot of discipline in our bowling. We are happy that he could not go after us and consumed 67 deliveries for his 26,” he said.
Bengal rode on Anustup Majumdar’s unbeaten 149 to post 312. In reply Porel grabbed 5 for 39 as they extended their overall lead to 262 at the end of Day Two.
The India A pacer joined the side in the quarterfinal after returning from the tour of New Zealand and the youngster said the experience helped him. “After returning from there, it helped me a lot here with the upright seam in SG ball. It’s helping me altogether after returning from new Zealand,” he said.
“I’m getting more experience after playing 20-odd matches. I’m more confident now to pitch the ball and get the movement.
“It is happening naturally to me and I’m not putting any extra effort. I’m also mentally more aggressive. The off-season training and India A tour has helped,” he concluded.
PTI