Ray Price used Bedi’s tips to shackle Sachin in India two years ago

Price feels a bowler has to be very clever to dismiss Sachin

Hobart: Zimbabwe left-arm spinner Raymond Price is ready to confront Sachin Tendulkar armed with the confidence of having shackled him in India earlier.

“It is special to bowl to the world’s best batsman. My philosophy is, don’t be afraid of anybody, enjoy yourself as much as you can,” Price said on the eve of the India-Zimbabwe tri-series clash.

Price dismissed Tendulkar three times out of three in two Tests in India in 2002, choking him to such an extent that the little master scored only 36 runs from 119 balls in the Delhi Test.

“I relied completely on my accuracy. I spoke a lot to Bishan Bedi who said ‘if you could get your action right and get your seam going towards second or third slip, be patient and land the ball in the right areas, you could trouble most batsmen’,” Price recalled.

“He said ‘your job is, not to try and do too much, be patient and let the batter come to you’,” Price said.

Price felt all batsmen, including Tendulkar, are vulnerable at the start of their innings when they are in the process of getting their eye in and feet moving. “All batsmen are vulnerable between nought and 15, no matter who they are. That is the period when you should attack them a lot.”

Price is aware of Tendulkar coming into to his own with unbeaten knocks of 241 and 60 in the Sydney Test and a fluent 63 in the tri-series opener against Australia in Melbourne.

“He struggled at the beginning of the tour but has done so well now. But that is the kind of batsman he is, a very special player and one who I had been dreaming to dismiss since I was six or seven years old,” Price said. “It will be a different experience for me to bowl to him on these wickets. But it is a pleasure to bowl to the world’s best batsman and a challenge I am looking forward to.”

Price is aware that his task against the Indian batsmen in good batting conditions is not going to be easy, especially given the way they went after Stuart MacGill in the Test series.

“It is hard to bowl to batsmen like Sehwag, Tendulkar, Laxman and Dravid, they have an endless line of batters.

“These are kind of wickets where there is less spin and the bounce is true. You have got to be very clever, vary pace and be patient because these batsmen are very good strikers of the ball and hit a long way,” he said. (PTI)