Shiva’s regal! A 10-wicket high
What is common between former Indian skipper Anil Kumble, ex-England off-spinner Jim Laker and Hyderabad’s latest spin sensation Shiva Prasad? Well, all the three have the distinction of taking all 10 wickets in an innings.
While the first two names bagged the perfect 10 in international matches, Shiva Prasad did the city proud with his exploits for Sporting XI in an ‘A’ division two-day league cricket match against Ours which the former won by 89 runs at the NFC Grounds in Hyderabad. His feat does not end there. The one-sided encounter also witnessed a hat-trick for the wily off-spinner who describes his flight as his biggest strength. Hailing from the West Godavari district, Shiva Prasad moved to Hyderabad in 2004-05 and has since played in state U-17, U-19 and U-22 teams. He has trained at the St John’s Coaching Academy and is currently under the tutelage of N.S. Ganesh at Mahboob College.
Speaking about the match where his figures read 20-8-17-10, Shiva says, “I never dreamt of this feat. I came into the attack with half-an-hour of play left for the day. My first dismissal was an lbw. After taking the first four wickets, I took a hat-trick where all the three dismissals were bowled. Only when I bagged my seventh wicket, did I realise that I had the chance of picking all the 10 wickets.”
However, his stupendous effort had dollops of drama too. “After I took my ninth wicket, I went through a period of agony before scalping the 10th. It took me five overs wherein numerous catches were dropped before I could nail the last one,” Shiva recollects.
Speaking about the spinners from Hyderabad, Shiva says, “I had heard about Shivlal Yadav and Arshad Ayub but managed to see Kanwaljit Singh in action. I learnt a lot of tips from him.”
In his golden moment, Shiva doesn’t forget to thank his parents. “My father is a real-estate agent while my mother is a housewife. I have a brother and sister, both are into engineering. My family moved to Hyderabad in 2007-08 and have been a great support. My neighbour T. Basva Raju, an EC member at HCA, too has been a great help,” Shiva says. Asked who his idols were, Shiva says, “Saqlain Mushtaq and Graeme Swann.” The Hyderabadi does make it a point to catch upon the latest happenings at the Ashes. This third-year B.Com student at the Wesley Degree College prefers to take one step at a time and is eyeing a spot in the Hyderabad Ranji side.
His eight five-wicket hauls and one 10-wicket haul in 12 ties this season could help him take the next big leap in his career.
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