To change or not to change, that's the question facing Nehra

By Vijay Lokapally

NEW DELHI, OCT 4. It is a tough choice for Ashish Nehra. Should he try and change his action, as suggested by Dennis Lillee and Wasim Akram, to avoid the recurring groin injuries or continue with his current style.

``At the moment, I'm focussed at returning to competitive cricket as soon as possible,'' said Nehra, who had a lengthy conversation with Akram, the versatile Pakistani seamer, two days ago.

``Akram told me a few useful things. Mainly it was related to what sort of endurance I must have to maintain my consistency at the international level,'' said Nehra, who is recovering from a groin injury which cost him a place in the Indian team for the one-day series in South Africa.

Nehra was told by Akram that it was his delivery stride that could be the reason for his groin problem. So how to solve the problem? ``Obviously by concentrating on my final stride,'' confessed Nehra. Akram, at various points in his career, had been troubled by a similar groin injury and that was the reason why Nehra spoke to the former Pakistan skipper to try and understand the recovery course.

Even as Nehra sought guidance from every possible quarter, came the pleasant news that Kapil Dev was willing to help the Delhi seamer. ``It's a matter of confidence and nothing else. He needs to make a couple of minor adjustments and he won't be troubled anymore by injuries,'' said Kapil, who made it clear that Nehra need not alter his action at all.

When asked if his final delivery stride could possibly be the reason for causing the pressure on Nehra's groin, Kapil said, ``I'm not sure but there's no harm if he can reduce his final stride. No problem with it. If you ask me, it is better for him to shorten his final delivery stride because it would then help him add more speed. He would then have far better control of his line and length also.''

Nehra was delighted at Kapil willing to help him and would meet him on Friday to gather some wisdom from the former all-rounder, ranked among the all-time greats of the game.

Given the time at his disposal Nehra, however, would be hard- pressed to make such crucial changes at this point of his career. ``Where is the time for Ashish to try and make alterations in his action?'' asked his coach and mentor Mr. Tarak Sinha.

``I don't think there's any need for him to change his action,'' said Mr. Sinha. ``There's nothing wrong with his action. A change at this juncture might have an adverse impact on his ability to bowl with such deception. His deceptive pace off the pitch is his asset,'' asserted Mr. Sinha.

The first suggestion to Nehra in this regard had reportedly come from Lillee, the legendary Aussie who spoke from experience, having altered his action slightly because of a back injury. There have been instances of bowlers changing action to avoid injuries but few succeeded in translating the change into a wicket-taking phenomenon.

In the mid-70s, Pandurang Salgaonkar of Maharashtra was rated high for his ability to generate pace even on placid tracks but then one visit overseas to an academy proved costly. The coach tampered with his action and Salgaonkar could never do justice to his potential.

Incidentally, he was the only bowler to have inflicted an injury with his disconcerting bounce on Sunil Gavaskar, who broke his finger when facing Salgaonkar in a Ranji Trophy match on a matting wicket at Nasik.

Atul Wassan was another seamer who suffered immensely when he had to change his action to avoid pressure on his ribs which he had broken during training in 1990. ``The injury healed but I wasn't the same bowler. It's not easy to change your action when playing international cricket,'' said Wassan.

Imran Khan was one of those rare bowlers who managed to change his action to overcome a back injury and yet enjoy an eventful career.

Recently, Brett Lee was guided by experts to bring in a few changes in his style - running straighter and a trifle front on.

But then Lee was assisted by a team of experts who worked on his run-up, delivery and follow-through and came up with a solution which did not affect his speed.

Nehra, however, has to chart his course alone.

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