Deshpande’s case is a very different one in Indian cricket. A player capable of landing 150kph on a regular basis, the Mumbaikar has had to face the preconceived notion of “not having enough control in his stride”.  But go and watch him bowl in a net session, it is difficult to notice any lack of effort from him. It is this very effort which is the cornerstone to his rise in Indian cricket which recently saw him being selected for the last two India-A’s home one-dayers against South Africa A, starting on August 29 in Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. Speaking exclusively to SportsCafe after the selection, Deshpande cuts a figure of a confident individual ready to take on the biggest challenge of his career so far. 

“That was a very simple thing actually; I just used to forget my runup mark out of excitement. But then I kept practising that yes, this is the line from where I have to bowl. So now I have stopped bowling too many no balls. Even in the nets, I always keep the running mark in mind and plan my runup accordingly, and whatever one does in the net obviously translates itself out there on the field. 

In sync with the current pace revolution in India, Deshpande takes pride in bowling fast and keeping himself fit by doing all sorts of training in the gym. However, injuries are a pace bowler’s occupational hazard and there is hardly anything one can do all the time. The habit of overbowling without any visible lack of intensity turned out to be Deshpande’s kryptonite. 

“I usually take good care of my body but earlier I used to bowl a lot, I used to overbowl. But later I learnt that if I want to bowl at high speeds, quality practice and quality training are very important. If I just do so in quantity then my pace will keep on dropping. So I have changed that part, now I only bowl as much as the coaches ask me to. I don’t overdo it otherwise my quality will decrease in the future. 

“I will still be able to bowl but it won’t be effective and at the pace that I desire to bowl at. So I do quality practice nowadays. I recover normally and haven’t changed much with it but I have modified my training program a bit. Last year I met Anand sir who is a trainer at the NCA and after talking to him, I changed my training model. Earlier, I used to do quite a lot of heavy-weights but now I focus more on flexibility, mobility and groundwork. I give more importance to running work now,” the Mumbaikar added.