Shedge’s journey into the national set-up has been shaped by opportunities arriving at the right moment. He made his international debut against Ireland in June after injuries ruled out Hardik Pandya and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Pandya, during his time at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, gave Shedge some valuable advice.
“He told me to master my stock ball, the target-area ball. That needs to become my USP because when someone is attacking you, you can always fall back on it. If that gets mentally set in your mind, you’ll find it easier,” Shedge said.
“My stock ball is the hard length. The surprise could be a slower one or a quicker full ball. It’s about making the batter guess, because then the stock ball becomes effective.”
His hard-length delivery proved to be his biggest weapon against Australia ‘A’. With the pitch slowing down, he quickly realised that bowling short of a good length would be more effective than pitching it fuller.
“The wicket was a bit slower. After the first over, I realised that short-of-good-length ball would work here. I used the scrambled seam and tried to hit the deck, which gave me results,” he said.
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