Injury to Deepak Chahar opened the doors for Navdeep Saini and the latter grabbed the opportunity with both hands in his maiden ODI appearance for India against West Indies in Cuttack on December 22.
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The 27-year-old pacer emerged as the most successful bowler in the series decider for the hosts as he claimed the prized scalps of Shimron Hetmyer and Roston Chase.
Saini, who arrived into the match after a successful outing in the Ranji Trophy for Delhi, got rid of the in-form Hetmyer with a bouncer while he dismissed Chase with a peach of an inswinging yorker.
“When I was playing Ranji Trophy, I wasn’t thinking much about white-ball cricket. My childhood friend Mohit Kalyan (Haryana batsman) follows a lot of cricket on TV. So I called him up to know who was batting well when I received the ODI call-up. He told me about Hetmyer and (Kieron) Pollard and came up with the plan of bowling certain lengths to the West Indies batsmen,” Saini told Hindustan Times in an interview.
Asked if bowling at Hetmyer’s body was part of the plan, Saini said: “Absolutely. I was aware West Indies big-hitters love room outside off-stump. Mohit and I had discussed this. I decided to bowl short and close to Hetmyer’s body, and with my pace I knew it won’t be easy to pull me from that length.”
Reflecting on the yorker to remove Chase, Navdeep explained: “I was practising the yorker while playing Vijay Hazare Trophy. In limited-overs cricket, it is very important to bowl at the death. Also, I was playing Ranji Trophy, where you have to consistently hit one area, which helped a lot. You have to be mentally strong to execute anything. You may have practised less but if you have mental strength to bowl a particular ball to a batsman in an international match, that is the biggest plus point.”
Saini is a part of India's upcoming cricketing assignments – T20Is against Sri Lanka and ODIs against Australia next month.
Talking about his relationship with other India pacers, the youngster said: “We keep talking to each other. When I started my second spell, Mohammad Shami was at mid-off. He guided me on how to handle the pressure because at that time the batsmen were looking for quick runs. He told me not to get defensive but look for wickets.”
Team India needs a pacer who can bowl with the new ball and at the death for the T20 World Cup and Saini is keen to fit in that role.
“I try to be ready for every situation, whether bowling with the new ball or at the death. The goal will be to be a part of India’s T20 World Cup squad. But there is still some time to go. If I start thinking too much about the future, it will only put unnecessary pressure. It’ll be better if I prepare for one series at a time.”
Speaking about his plan for Sri Lanka and Australia series, Saini said: “I want to be consistent with the new and old ball. If I can execute my plans of hitting the lengths at the start and getting the yorkers right in the end, it really won’t matter who my opponents are. If I’m mentally strong enough, then the match situation or opposition won’t be much of a problem.”
