Sreesanth shows what focus can do

Shantakumaran Sreesanth's recent bowling only proved that if he is able to focus on the game he can come up with some deadly spells like he did in the Kanpur Test. This comes after his earlier chosen track where he'd tried to paint himself as the bad boy of Indian cricket.

A good pacer needs to be disciplined both on and off the field. It's time Sreesanth realises that talent alone will not help him clinch a permanent place in the Indian team. He must play the game with respect.

Sreesanth's on-field aggression was merely making a mockery of himself with his expressions and provocative behaviour. That took away his concentration on pitching the ball right and trapping the batsmen.

A cricketer prone to provocation will never succeed at the international level. And if this truth has dawned on Sreesanth that only good deliveries will fetch him wickets, then one can expect more of such performances from him in future.

Besides focus, consistency is the key in international cricket. One may be the fastest with the ability to bowl a variety of deliveries, but clinching a permanent place in a team needs being disciplined on and off the field. A perfect case in point is Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar. If selected, even now he may be able to wreck any opponent, but that spell will hardly last for the next ten matches. At the international level, teams cannot afford to carry such players with talent but who cannot deliver at the right time.

Fast bowlers

To be selected as a fast bowler in the Indian team despite representing a weak state like Kerala itself speaks of Sreesanth's enormous talent. Till a few years ago, Kerala cricketers could only dream of making it to the Indian team. Many of the talented ones with such dreams are now playing domestic cricket in the UAE.

Most people may not be aware that at one time Kerala had one of India's fastest bowlers named PMK Mohandas, but he lacked direction and technique.

Sreesanth was lucky to get the break and guidance at the right time. For many years, he had remained as the answer to a trivia question — "Who is the only Kerala bowler to take a hat-trick in Ranji Trophy?" — and would have continued to remain so. But having achieved the impossible, he should now keep proving and re-inventing himself as a bowler rather than get people to comment on his behaviour.

At Kanpur, he has taken the first right step towards a good run up to glory.