Basil: from being a nobody to the guy who got gayle

Few people outside Kerala would have heard of Basil Thampi. The smiling fast bowler has been playing Ranji Trophy for Kerala and had precious little to make a name for himself. All that changed on Tuesday night when the 23-year-old old Basil bowled his heart out and claimed the wicket of Chris Gayle on Tuesday to become one of the most talked about stars in the current  edition of the IPL. That Gayle was his maiden wicket in the IPL proved to be the icing on the cake.

Basil who claimed the prized scalp of Gayle was over the moon. When contacted by The Sunday Guardian, Basil said: “It was one of the most memorable days of his life. I will not forget this day. To dismiss someone like Gayle went beyond  my greatest expectation. Even now I cant believe that I could get the wicket of one of the best T20 batsmen in the world.”

Basil, who played most of his cricket in Ernakulam, had admired S. Sreesanth when he was a youngster. “I liked the way in which he (Sreesanth) bowled—his action, speed and even his aggression. I wanted to play for Team India and earn a name for myself with my bowling skills,” said Basil.

Basil, who has been bowling constantly at the 140kmph mark for Gujarat Lions, feels that he has the pace and yorkers in his arsenal to trouble the best. “I have the pace to trouble the best—there is no doubt about that. I have also worked hard on my yorkers which I can keep on bowling at the death. Now in  T20 cricket we all know the importance of yorkers,” he added.

On being asked as to how he perfected his yorkers, Basil said that he began to perfect it during his training sessions back in Kerala. “Back home when I was training off season during the Ranji season, I used to practise with tennis balls.  It was with the help of these tennis balls that I began to perfect the art of bowling Yorkers. My coach and I worked hard on this and I am happy that I could bowl this delivery well,” he said.  

Basil also thanked Glenn McGrath for the tip the latter gave. He got very good tips from Glenn McGrath at the MRF Pace Foundation. “He told me that I had very good pace and that I should not sacrifice that. Looking back I think that was the best piece of advise I could get. I also learnt the nuances of fast bowling from him (McGrath),” said Basil.

Bravo lauds Thampi West Indies’ World T20-winning allrounder Dwayne Bravo is mighty impressed with uncapped Kerala speedster Basil Thampi, saying he could soon represent India. Both Bravo and Thampi are turning out for Gujarat Lions in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

“Basil Thampi is a very, very talented youngster. I would say he will get the opportunity to play for Team India in a year or so. He has the talent, obviously, but he also has a lot of heart, pace and the skill. He’s always willing to learn,” Bravo told PTI on Wednesday.

During Gujarat Lions’ match against Mumbai Indians, the tall pacer impressed everyone by consistently bowling yorkers. Yesterday, when Royal Challengers Bangalore took the Gujarat Lions attack to the cleaners, Thampi returned economical figures of 1/31 and bowled the maximum (11) dot balls.