The Nearly Man

There is the strongest chance that Murali Kartik would be in a situation many years down the road where he looked back at his career and wondered just how good a cricketer he was. He has been in and out of the team, made seven comebacks at last count, and often had to cool his heels in the dressing-room, or even take the trip back to Gurgaon in Delhi, where he lives, the day after he has done well. Not long ago, Kartik took a career-best 7 for 76 in the Mumbai Test against Australia, and was the Man of the Match. The next time an Indian team was picked, he did not figure.

In some ways, it is understandable - with Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh around - that Kartik only got a chance when someone was injured. But that does not necessarily make it any better - either for the cricketer himself, or for others who are trying to get a sense of how good a left-arm spinner he really is. For unless a player gets a steady run at the highest level, it is impossible to really tell how good he is. How someone comes back from a bad patch, how well they can establish a stranglehold when on top - these things tell you how good a player is.

In recent times, the results have been good for Kartik. In the Irani Trophy, he scored an invaluable 96 for Railways, rescuing his team from the brink of defeat against the Rest of India. Soon after, he took his first five-for in limited overs cricket in the Challenger Series. Now, most recently, he bowled with great control and guile on a pitch that had something in it for the spinners. At Nagpur, Kartik teased, flighted, gripped and tormented Sri Lanka's batsmen till he snared three wickets. "It's not that I'm suddenly bowling well," Kartik told Cricinfo as the team prepared to leave Delhi for Mohali. "I think I've always given it my best shot when I've walked out to the park. But recently I took my first career five-for in limited overs cricket - that was something missing in my resume. Naturally, when you take five people say you're bowling well. But there's nothing different in my bowling."

He may not have changed as a cricketer, in terms of bowling style, but he certainly has changed as a person, although that's a sensitive topic with him. There was once a time when Kartik would take criticism so much to heart that he was not averse to walking up to a journalist in the press box and challenging him on something that was written. But now, he has learned to deal with his frustration at being in and out of the team much better.

"It is frustrating [to be in and out of the team despite performing well]," he said. "I would be lying if I said it was not frustrating to be left out of the eleven or even the squad after doing well. The old Kartik would have fretted, fumed and probably been angry with the whole world for a bit. But now I have learned to deal with it better. It is not something that is happening to me at the India level - it has happened all throughout, from age-group cricket, to zone cricket to the Indian team. Maybe that's my own destiny."

Destiny or otherwise, Kartik says that he has no problems motivating himself. "There are two ways of looking at it. One way is that I have played just 20 one-day internationals in five years when perhaps I could have played 80 or 90 if I was a regular in the team. The other is to take each match as an opportunity to play for India, to represent your country," explains Kartik. All that sounds very good, but how can you put that into practice day in and day out? "Look, the only real way to stay motivated is to play the game for the same reasons you originally began playing cricket. If you can't get enjoyment out of it, you can't motivate yourself. So you must find a way to enjoy the game. Then, if you are playing for your country, the motivation will come."

Breaking into the Indian team is hard, but staying there is just as - if not more - difficult. For Kartik, though, the time spent outside the team is not to be wasted wondering where the next international wicket is going to come from. "Ever since the Pakistan tour, I've been playing pretty much non-stop cricket," he says. "Whether that is for India, for my club side in England, for Railways or recently county cricket. It was good playing for Lancashire, even if it was only for 20 days. In the County Championship, we went from Division II to Division I, and in the limited-overs game we managed to stay afloat in Division I. It was great to play a part in that. It would be ideal to play for a couple of months where you get enough opportunity to bowl, but are not overdoing it. A full five-month season may be too much."

For now, though, there's a busy season ahead. At least 11 one-day internationals, against Sri Lanka and South Africa, beckon immediately, and it is clear that Kartik is very much in the scheme of things. Rahul Dravid, the new captain, and Greg Chappell, have spoken endlessly on the need for flexibility in picking the playing eleven. If the conditions assist the spinners - and don't expect any greentops for these one-dayers - then Kartik will have plenty of bowling to do, and a real chance to show the world what he is capable of.