Bowling coach Paras Mhambrey revealed the think-tank has identified two young batting options to potentially chip in with the ball in white-ball cricket.
Scrutiny on India’s long tail throughout the ongoing T20I series against the West Indies has also exposed a longstanding chink in the side’s armoury: lack of part-time options who can fill in crucial overs and potentially make sure the team could field an extra batting option.
With the flattening of conditions and regulations for limited-overs game leaving part-time options on the brink of extinction – a stark contrast to the friendlier times then India had Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag literally filling in 10 overs between them – it’s a case for good memory to recall when was the last instance India had one of their top 5 batters chipping in?
Specialising in one of the two primary skills is not a luxury to be diss at, but the team management recognises the need to also find options who can come in and deliver those cheap overs and ease the burden on the main star cast.
India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey insists there are two such young batting options who can be capable part-timers for the side when required. Two players currently travelling in the Caribbean and USA with the Hardik Pandya-led T20I side.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference for the fourth T20I of the West Indies series in Florida, Mhambrey said those two options could be Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma, both of whom have been decent part-time options since their U-19 days and set to be picked for the penultimate game of the tour.
Mhambrey, who has been working with multiple current Indian players from their junior U-16 and U-19 days within the set-up, insists those are promising options to hand over to skipper Hardik if required and revealed the team may even consider giving them one or two overs to test the waters with them.
“When you have someone who can chip in, it is nice. I have seen Tilak and Yashasvi bowl since U19 days. They are capable of being good bowlers. They can work on it at this level,” Mhambrey said.
“When you got options like these, it is nice to have them. We will see them bowl soon hopefully, we are working on it. It will take time. Soon, we will see them bowling an over at least,” he added.
