Rahul Dewan, the Haryana batsman, who contributed significantly as a part-time offspinner to give North Zone victory in the Deodhar Trophy final against West Zone in Vadodara, is keen on developing his bowling to become a full-fledged allrounder.
"After this performance [in the final], I'll probably have to take my bowling a lot more seriously," Dewan told Sportline. "You never know, maybe I could model myself into a decent allrounder."
Opening the innings, Dewan contributed only 15 runs, but snared 4 for 18 in four overs in the face of a fierce onslaught from Yusuf Pathan, to win the game for his side along with Mukesh Sharma who picked up a five-for. Dewan, though, played down his spell and credited the spinner-friendly pitch for his success.
"It was a spinner's track and the ball was turning square, all I had to do was to control the wrist and not get carried away," Dewan said. "To the left-handers I bowled stump-to-stump so that the ball moves away from them, and that's how I got Ravindra Jadeja, Parthiv Patel and Iqbal Abdulla."
Despite his success in domestic tournaments, Dewan is dejected by the fact that an IPL contract has eluded him since the first season, when he was with the Delhi Daredevils. "Maybe the franchises think I am too technical but that is only because I put a price on my wicket," Dewan said. "I had a really good season but none of the teams got in touch with me. It is disappointing to not have a contract.
"I got a one-year contract for the first season with Daredevils. Once the tournament came to an end they told me that they would follow my performances and get back to me. I had a good season back then also but there was no follow-up from them."
Dewan had a fruitful domestic season for Haryana, and was the fourth highest run-scorer in the Ranji Plate League, with 418 runs. His team did well to qualify for the Ranji semi-finals as well as the 2011 Super League, an achievement that pleased Dewan.
"It is incredible that Haryana made it into the Super Elite group from the Plate division. Earlier, the differential treatment was evident, as even great performances from our team used to be sidelined because we were in the lower division.
"Last season, our target was to make it into the big stage but we were unable to make it. This season, we came in with a single-minded focus and we are all really happy that we managed to reach our goal."
With the domestic season winding to a close, Dewan looks forward to a short break before returning to action. "I am going to take a few days off and rest my sore body, but after that it's back to concentrating on my game," Dewan said. "But this time it will be a little different. Apart from my batting, I will also give my off spin a lot of attention and of course, root for my favourite IPL team - the Delhi Daredevils."