India pacer Umesh Yadav, who hobbled off the field on Day 3 of the Boxing Day Test against Australia with tearing pain in his calf muscle, has been ruled out of the remaining two Tests of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
While left-arm fast bowler T Natarajan has been drafted into the Indian squad as Umesh’s replacement and Shardul Thakur is also in the selection reckoning, former cricketer Ashish Nehra wants Navdeep Saini to play as the third pacer in the third Test at SCG.
"If you look at squad composition, Saini was first choice and Shardul and Natarajan both came in as replacements for Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav," Nehra told PTI on Tuesday (January 5).
"So if Saini was ahead of them during initial Test squad selection, I don't see any reason why he would slip down in the pecking order. You selected him first, so obviously you believed he was better than other two. Isn't it," he added.
According to Nehra, Saini has extra pacer and also has the ability to extract disconcerting bounce.
"Navdeep's biggest asset are bounce and extra pace. This is a Test match. How does Natarajan normally gets his wickets? When people are trying to hit him. Also, you haven't tested Natarajan by playing him for India A like you did with Mohammad Siraj, who has risen through the ranks," he remarked.
"Similarly, Navdeep has also come up the ranks having been on multiple red ball tours of India A. In Test matches, batsmen normally don't get out. You have to get them out. That's the difference."
The white-ball games that were held in Sydney indicated that the pitch was a flat one and Nehra pointed out the need of express pace on such surfaces.
"On Sydney pitch, you will require a bit more pace and Navdeep has that. There shouldn't be any debate as such. Sydney pitches what I saw during white ball games, it was very flat.
"So when kookaburra seam will flatten out after some time, you will require that extra pace that Navdeep has and also he can get a bit of reverse swing," he said.
The other factor is the current Australian team's inability to play short-pitched bowling.
"Also this Australian team is susceptible to short-pitched bowling, unlike a Matthew Hayden or Ricky Ponting of yesteryears. Navdeep can be used better as he bowls a mean bouncer compared to a Natarajan or Shardul," Nehra stated.
"I am not saying by any stretch that Navdeep is India's No 1 bowler. He needs to improve a lot.
“Navdeep's average speed is around 140 but out of the three, Navdeep is best suited to play the Sydney Test match," he further opined.
Team India had won the Boxing Day Test by 8 wickets to level the series at 1-1. The third Test will be played in Sydney from January 7.
(With PTI inputs)
