Watch: A clever setup from S Sreesanth resulted in the dismissal of Daren Ganga courtesy of a brilliant outswinging yorker during the 2006 Kingston Test between India and West Indies.
The 39-year-old Sreesanth, who returned to first-class cricket after a nine-year hiatus in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, spoke to Wisden India leading up to the tournament, reliving the highs and lows of a tumultuous career in a wide-ranging interview.
While discussing his international career, and specifically speaking about the best deliveries he’s bowled, Sreesanth narrated the elaborately planned dismissal of Daren Ganga during India’s tour to the Caribbean in 2006. Calling it the “best delivery [he’s] ever bowled”, he described how he acted “tired” leading up to the dismissal in the fourth innings, in a bid to mislead the West Indies opener.
“Yes, [the Jacques] Kallis ball is surely one of the very best I have ever bowled [from the 2010 Cape Town Test], Sreesanth said. “But the best ball I have ever bowled was to Daren Ganga [during India’s tour of the West Indies in 2006]. I rate that as the No.1 ball I have ever bowled. That was an out-swinging yorker. I was bowling 123 [kph], 126, 121, 124 [YouTube footage shows Sreesanth bowling in the low 130s prior to the wicket]. Even the commentators were saying ‘He’s tired’. I think it was my sixth or seventh over, and it was very well planned.
“I think only Munaf [Patel] knew. ‘Saale, natak kar raha hai’ (I know you are acting), because he’s seen me play for Indian Airlines and league matches in Chennai. It used to be one of my tricks – show the batsman that you’re really tired, bowl the slower bouncer with full effort, and say, ‘Shit yaar’, and tie your laces. Don’t even look [at him] and then say ‘Kya yaar out, ho ja (get out, man). And then bowl that faster one.”
Sreesanth took two more wickets in the innings as India completed a 49-run win, claiming the four-Test series 1-0.
