Ajay Jadeja in the bowling alley at Sparkz, an amusement park in Alipore on Saturday. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

It was bowling all right, but not across 22 yards. And at the receiving end were nine pins, not three stumps. Ajay Jadeja, former all-rounder of Team India tainted by the match-fixing controversy, was in the city on Saturday afternoon to try his hand at bowling in Sparkz, the amusement park at Alipore.

His stint as an anchor with a private news channel had brought him to Calcutta for a t?te-?-t?te with Aditya Agarwal, director of the Emami group of companies. Aditya, himself, is quite a bowling enthusiast.

After an illustrious career with the national team in the Nineties ? and a brief brush with Bollywood (Khel) ? the flamboyant batsman is playing first-class cricket for Rajasthan now.

“Cricket is my first love and I have never thought of putting cricket on the backburner for any other vocation. It was the passion for the game that gave me the impetus to fight back after the ban,” said Jadeja.

Now, besides first-class cricket and small-screen assignments, Jadeja has also taken up golf, following in the footsteps of idol Kapil Dev.

“I am a sportsman and interested in other games as well. I have taken up golf seriously and bowling also seems to be an exciting proposition. But I guess the game requires a slightly harder push from the corporates. Sparkz has a very good set-up. I am sure bowling tournaments here would draw many youngsters,” said Jadeja.

When talk turns to Team India, the cricketer with quicksilver footwork steps out in defence of Dada.

“It is hard to believe that (Sourav) Ganguly is not in the national side. Instead of facing the Fernandos and the Muralidharans he is trying to prove his mettle against Zimbabwe A. The absence of the most successful captain of India raises serious doubts about the selection process of the BCCI.”

Known to have one of the best hands on the field, Jadeja displayed two left wrists at the alley. Most of the time the ball decided to skip over to the adjacent alley.

“Some net practice would improve my game. But bowling to the nine pins is any day better than bowling to Afridi or Gilchrist! At least you get some respect here,” chuckled the all-rounder.