Navdeep Saini was named the man of the match for his figures of 18 for 2 in four overs against Sri Lanka in the Indore T20I while Shardul was also economical at 3 for 23 in his quota of four overs. Both bowlers are looking to leave a mark and impress the team management for the T20 World Cup later this year but the current competition in the team mean only one of them might get the opportunity to be a part of the event.
Reflecting on Saini and Shardul’s performance against the Lankans at the post-match presentation ceremony on Tuesday, Kohli hailed the way the two bowled against Lasith Malinga’s men but reserved a special praise for Saini who impressed everyone with the speed with which he bowled.
“Navdeep has come into the ODI circuit as well, he is gaining more confidence in T20 cricket. You can really see him letting himself go. When he does that, he can clock those speeds which he did. It’s great to see him getting people out with yorkers and bouncers and with pace. It’s a really good sign for the team,” Kohli said on Tuesday.
When asked about the pace-bowling combination for the T20 World Cup, Kohli admitted that there will be one surprise package although when it comes to two players who possess similar skills, the one with more experience will be preferred.
“You’ll have to figure out who are the people that are very similar in their bowling skills, and you pick the senior one. I think one guy will be a surprise package going to Australia, someone who can bowl with pace and has bounce,” he said.
While Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami are arguably the confirmed names for the T20 World Cup, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur are arguably the players who could bag the remaining one or two spots in the travelling squad.
