India’s bowling coach, Paras Mhambrey, has expressed confidence in Ravindra Jadeja’s ability to make a significant impact in the Men’s T20 World Cup. Despite Jadeja’s lack of wickets and a first-ball dismissal by Mohammed Amir in India’s narrow six-run victory over Pakistan in New York on June 9, Mhambrey believes the seasoned left-arm spinner and all-rounder will prove crucial in later stages of the tournament.
Mhambrey said: “I think it’s a team game, right? It’s going to be 11 guys. You really don’t expect all of them coming into form. It’s going to be performed every game that will happen. For me, I personally feel whatever conversations Rahul (Dravid, head coach) and Vicky (Vikram Rathour, batting coach) are having around, I’ve been pretty happy with it. You expect a one-odd game out there. But it’s a long tournament.”
“For someone like Jadeja, who’s so vastly experienced, he just needs a game out there to just get his root and feel around. We know that the skills and experience he has, he’s going to go ahead and win you games. So that confidence we have in not only Jadeja, but honestly with someone like (Shivam) Dube and others as well.”
Jadeja faces stiff competition from Axar Patel, who has made valuable contributions with both bat and ball, and Kuldeep Yadav, who is eager to join the playing eleven. Kuldeep has not yet featured in the tournament due to the seam-friendly pitches in New York, but Mhambrey emphasized that Kuldeep understands his omission is based on maintaining team balance.
Additionally, Paras Mhambrey commended USA’s left-arm fast bowler, Saurabh Netravalkar, for his performance. Netravalkar, who previously played for India in the 2010 Men’s U19 World Cup and in domestic cricket for Mumbai, has impressed with his skills on the field.
He further added: “Dropping a seamer and playing a spinner (does happen by) looking at the conditions, but also the other thing that Axar does is, he gives you that depth as well in terms of the batting, which was pretty evident in the last game.”
“Because we had to promote someone like him, we had to take a chance. He played a very critical role for the team, got those runs at that stage, because the ball was challenging at that situation – seaming and swinging,” Paras Mhambrey concluded.
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