Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy | I realised that I should bowl slower and that helped, says Utkarsh

Jharkhand all-rounder Utkarsh Singh, who bagged his maiden Player-of-the-Match award in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for his all-round winning effort (two for 30, and 24) in a low-scoring clash against Delhi at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Wednesday, said he had to recalibrate his pace to suit the pitch after an expensive first over that went for 15 runs.

“I made the mistake of bowling too fast in the first over. I realized that the ball was gripping a bit and that I should bowl slower. It was not easy to hit the slower balls on that wicket. So, I bowled way slower, and that helped,” the off-spinner said on Thursday.

His slower deliveries accounted for Delhi captain Nitish Rana (caught and bowled) and Anuj Rawat (caught at long-on), helping restrict Delhi to 132.

“I want to continue focusing on my general ability to spin the ball by bowling slower. At the same time, I want to keep changing the pace. There should be some variability in the six balls that you bowl,” he added. Besides the pace variation, he also bowls the yorker and floater. What’s a floater? “It’s basically a ball that goes out to the right-hander. It’s like an outswinger,” he said.

The 27-year-old said Moeen Ali helped refine his bowling during his net-bowling stint with the Chennai Super Kings for the 2024 IPL season. “I used to have extensive conversations with him. He pointed out some minute changes in my action, and I incorporated those. That helped a lot in improving my pace while still maintaining the revolutions.”

Utkarsh, whose natural tendency is to play along the ground, said he worked on adding “some more scoring shots” and playing “more lofted strokes” in the pre-season. As an opener, his approach is to go hard at the bowlers in the PowerPlay.

And that’s exactly what he did with his captain Ishan Kishan against Delhi, the pair adding 61 runs from 32 balls.