Soon, new roles may be assigned to two talented youngsters in the Indian team. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma’s batting prowess is known to all. Both have made stellar debuts for the Indian cricket team on the West Indies tour. While Jaiswal has impressed in the top order, Tilak Varma has shown enough promise in the middle-order in the T20Is. However, they could be assigned bowling roles too. Indian bowling coach Paras Mhambrey said that the team is working on the bowling abilities of young batters like Tilak Varma and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who can bowl some spin as part-time bowlers, and soon they will be seen bowling at least an over each in a match.
“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. 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,” said Paras in a pre-match press conference.
India will take on West Indies in the fourth T20I in Florida, US on Saturday. India made a comeback in the last match, winning it by seven wickets to keep the series alive with the scoreline at 2-1.
The bowling coach lauded pacer Mukesh Kumar for his performances on this tour, which saw him debut for India across all formats.
“I am extremely happy with his (Mukesh’s) progress. Not many guys get a chance to play all three formats on one tour. He is the second maybe. To do so is fantastic. His thought process and approach are fabulous. He is someone who should come here, play against tough opponents and wickets. I am happy with the character he has shown. We will have to be smart about his workload. He is a young kid, has played a lot of domestic cricket. There is a lot of quality,” he added.
Mukesh has played a Test and three ODIs and T20Is each on this tour. In Tests, he has picked two wickets. In ODIs, he has four wickets with the best figures of 3/30 while in T20Is, he has two wickets with the best figures of 1/19. The 29-year-old represents Bengal in domestic cricket.
Talking about the wicket at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill, Paras said that it is a good batting surface, with the ball coming on the bat nicely.
“It is different (As compared to pitches earlier in the series), especially when it comes to soil. It is black soil, the kind of soil we get in North India. It is a good wicket, will be nice to bat on, with the ball coming to the bat nicely. That is what we saw in the nets. Stroke-making was easy. It could be a high-scoring game,” he said.
Paras said that it is good to be in the US because of the crowd support and reception for the Men in Blue.
On conversations with the bowling unit about playing on a batting-friendly surface, the coach said, “This format is such that batters are going to come after you, especially on a wicket like this. It is important to have discipline. It is important to decide on plans, the execution becomes really important. If you focus on it, you are giving yourself the best chance to be successful.”
Paras also expressed happiness with the way the team bounced back in the third match.
“I am extremely happy with the way we have come back. Even in the first two games, we were not much behind. We just could not seize the opportunities. Had we done so, results could have been different. The way we played the third T20I, we tick all the boxes across all the departments. We are only going to go up from there,” he concluded.
