The 26-years-old Haryana born pacer, Navdeep Saini was there in the headlines for his extraordinary bowling display in his debut T20 International series against West Indies. Navdeep Saini took five wickets in three matches and ended up with the top wicket-taker of the T20I series.
However, the right-handed pacer didn’t play any One-Day International match in West Indies, but the Indian team management has decided to keep him as a net bowler ahead of Test series, with the purpose to groom him for red-ball cricket.
"Yes, Navdeep Saini has been asked to stay back by the team management for the Test series. He will stay back primarily as a net bowler, they want to groom him for the Test format keeping an eye on the future," a senior BCCI official told PTI on Monday.
In the ongoing practice match, Navdeep Saini bowled six overs during the West Indies A first innings to give relief to Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav. Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar didn't bowl in the first innings.
"Saini has been a performer in red-ball cricket for the past few years. He has the pace, and ability to hit the deck, move the ball both in air and off the pitch. If he is groomed well, it will only increase our pool of fast bowlers for top tier cricket. That's how the team management is looking at him,” the officials said.
Follow MyTeam11 for more updates and information about the latest sports stuff.
