After confirming India's squad for the upcoming ODI World Cup, the national selection panel also announced names of four pacers - Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini and Avesh Khan - who will travel along with skipper Virat Kohli and his team to provide ideal net practice during the big summer in England Wales.
Two basic reasons behind the prudent move being; that adequate back-up will be available to the team management in case of any injury and India's top-six will have quality preparation time in the nets before every match.
Now among the quartet, Deepak Chahar and Navdeep Saini have revealed the exact brief that the selectors have given them and how they'll go about helping the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and MS Dhoni.
"I have been given a big responsibility of a net bowler in the World Cup. My aim will be to bowl as fast as possible to Indian players and help them prepare for the World Cup," Saini, who has received praise from all corners for his speed, accuracy and returns for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the ongoing Indian Premier League, told Times of India.
"Khaleel, Avesh and Deepak will also be there to help the Indian team. I just want to give my best at the nets and help Team India prepare for the big tournament."
Chahar, who is known for his ability to generate swing movement at the domestic level, has also had a very good IPL 2019 for Chennai Super Kings and the right-arm pacer from Rajasthan believes his natural skill is what has helped him receive this nod.
"Indian selectors have given me a big duty. I think they have considered me because of the swing. I am ready to bowl my swingers to the Indian batsmen and get them ready for the World Cup," he said.
"I want to bowl particularly to our openers. I have the ability to swing the ball both ways (in-swing and out-swing). I can bowl yorkers too. I want to bowl as much as I can to our batsmen. I am also excited about interacting with senior players in England. I always want to improve."
The other advantage of having the net-bowlers is that India's three specialist fast bowlers for the World Cup - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami - will have their pre and post-game workloads marginally cut down.
But if one or two of them pull out because of injury, the selectors will have to bring in a replacement from among the four net pacers. So when asked how mentally ready they are for such a case scenario, both Saini and Chahar expressed confidence of doing well.
"I am not thinking along those lines. I have been given this responsibility and I want to give my best. I respect the selectors’ decision." said Saini, before Chahar echoed the sentiment. "Yes, I am ready. If given a chance, I will be ready to grab it. I will give credit to the IPL. This is a platform which has given me and every other young bowler the opportunity to bowl against world-class batsmen."
"When you play two or three seasons, you have an idea about those batsmen. You know how to bowl to get them out. This matters a lot."
