An unconventional cricketer by his own admission, Samad Fallah is probably the only bowler in the domestic circuit to never mark his run-up and still rarely bowls no-balls. The left-arm pacer from Maharashtra has been leading his team’s bowling attack with pride over the past few years. Since his debut in the 2007-08 season, Fallah’s journey has coincided with Maharashtra's rise to becoming a serious contender for the Ranji Trophy title. Although they missed the chance in 2013-14 when they finished as runners-up, Maharashtra are striving to make amends this time, taking on Tamil Nadu in the semi-final. While speaking to BCCI.TV the 29-year old pacer, who is once again Maharashtra’s leading wicket-taker, recounted his journey in the domestic circuit. Excerpts: On Maharashtra’s second successive semi-final It’s a big success for us – back-to-back semifinals. It happened due to the process we have been following for the last eight years. We are the same group of players who have been playing together for eight-nine years. We were 18-19 years old when we came together as a young team in 2007. We have been through ups and downs, been relegated and have made our way back up again. Then last year we played in the final. The credit goes to the association for backing us. They believed that the team will give results. Everyone shares a good relationship with each other. We try to help each other and work hard together while training. On his role in the team’ success Earlier I used to take wickets but we still weren’t winning. Now along with me there are other bowlers who are also picking wickets. Last year we had (Akshay) Darekar and Shrikant Mundhe. This year we have Anupam Sanklecha, Mundhe and Dominic (Muthuswamy). Darekar also played four games and got 16 wickets. We know that if we have to win a match we have to take 20 wickets. Now I have partners to do so. It makes me very happy to lead the wicket-takers list and I credit my success to my team-mates. They create pressure from the other end which makes my life easy. On Maharashtra’s pace quartet and planning for the opposition All four of us are different from each other. Before this game (Anupam) Sanklecha missed a game and Nikit Dhumal played. He was given the role of bowling fast because he is the quickest of the lot, and he also picked wickets. Anupam and I are quite similar in that we both swing the ball. Dominic gets the bounce and has that extra bit of pace. Mundhe is an out-swing bowler who is an all-rounder so everyone has their own roles. On the evolution of Maharashtra’s pace attack I believe that fast bowlers are made on flat wickets because the margin for error is very less. When we get something which is suits us we try and take the advantage of the conditions. When we play our home games, margin of error is so low that if you don’t bowl well in the morning you can lose the game because it gets flatter as the day progresses. We have become more attacking instead of being defensive and waiting for a chance. On the attacking game and focus on taking wickets Being attacking helps us. When we were new comers we didn’t have much of a plan but we have learnt watching the opponents. We have been playing first-class cricket for the last eight-nine years and we have been learning from the opponents. We had good coaches around to help us. When I made my first-class debut I didn’t have any senior bowlers to learn from. I had replaced Munaf (Patel) who was selected in the Indian team and got eight wickets in the first game. I just started observing the plans of the opponents. We learnt that sometimes, being defensive also works in first-class cricket. The problem with attack is that it can also back-fire. What we have learnt is that we should have a way to come back into the game somehow. Now we know when to attack and how much to attack. On Yuvraj Singh’s compliment after the Maharashtra-Punjab game – “My man of the match is Samad Fallah” To get a compliment from an opponent and such a big player made my day, especially because I had almost won that game for the team. We lost it by three wickets. In the second innings everyone knew the conditions were tough to bowl in. As the day goes along the wicket settles. I still got a five-for in the second innings. Yuvraj had told me earlier, “you keep coming (at the batsman) and you keep giving your best.” That’s the compliment I will cherish. On the transition from tennis-ball to leather-ball It has been amazing actually. I never thought about playing first-class cricket. I had never played age-group cricket. But in the first game itself I took eight wickets and that made me believe that I belong to this level. And within 20 games I had my first 100 first-class wickets. Even at junior levels, I felt that the guy who plays first-class is not that different from me and I can do it too. But people would say you need a proper run-up and a good physique. What I realised is that if you perform you will get the rewards. That’s the thing I keep in mind and try to perform in every game On the gains of playing club cricket in Glamorgan If you play in England the responsibility is more because you are the only professional cricketer in the side. It was a family environment and so it made me happy to perform for them and made me more responsible. The conditions there suited my bowling because I swing the ball. But the wickets are slow and sometimes you have to bend your back and bowl quicker. I learnt when to bowl quick and when not to. The experience has helped me take lot of wickets here too. On the short-term goals I want to win the final. In these two games I want to take the maximum number of wickets. I want to win the Ranji Trophy. It’s something you will remember for life. I gave it my all last year too. I want to do something for the state which has believed in us for eight-nine years, even when people said we were not good enough. We have seen some tough times, we have been relegated and have come back. I want to give something back to show that the faith hasn’t gone in vain and win the Ranji Trophy for Maharashtra. On his role model - Wasim Akram I am big Wasim Akram fan. I met him when I won the Gatorade championship some years back (2008 edition of its Pace Bowling Talent Hunt). I loved watching him. He made it look like anything is possible. I always tried to copy him. I loved his style. As a kid I would watch him on television and sometimes he wouldn’t mark is run-up. That is something that stuck with me. I try lots of things with my run-up. I try to run zig-zag, smaller run-up; this year I ran thirty yards as well. I had a big run-up for a couple of overs just to create something when nothing was happening. I realised that I have to do different things to pick wickets. So yes, I do copy him and he has always been my inspiration. And to some extent even Chaminda Vaas. I have lots of respect for both these left-arm bowlers.