Navdeep Saini, one of the brightest fast bowling prospects in the country, lauded India skipper Virat Kohli for his communication skills and providing constant encouragement to him. 

Saini, who has played five ODIs and 10 T20Is in his career so far, thanked Kohli for the support, also being his captain in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). 

"Virat bhai supports the bowlers, always," Saini told The Tribune in an interview. "I have played under him at Royal Challengers Bangalore and now with the Indian team. The good thing about him is that he keeps communicating with the bowlers. There are always chats about bowling plans and what fields to set. This is a great encouragement for a young bowler like me."

After kickstarting his international career with a T20I in Florida against West Indies last August, Saini had to wait until December to make his ODI debut against the same opposition in Cuttack. Even though the 27-year-old returned with decent figures of 2/58, he said it was initially quite difficult to adjust for him, coming straight from a Ranji Trophy encounter. 

"It would be my ODI debut against West Indies in Cuttack (the most difficult part of  his young career so far). It was a little tough for me. I was picked up straight from a Ranji match and asked to join the team."

"You don’t get the time to adjust... One day I was playing with the red ball, the very next day after nets with the white ball, I was told I was playing! It was a little different, but thankfully things went good for me in that match."

Thought widely as someone who can also succeed playing Test match cricket for India, Saini hasn't let the break due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic affect his fitness, as he set up a gym at his home in Karnal and has been in constant touch with bowling coach Bharat Arun and the rest of the management staff during this phase. 

"The first thing I did (as the lockdown was imposed) was to set up a gym in my house. I used to go to our farm, where I would do my running exercises. Since the government allowed opening of stadiums and training centres for sportspersons, I visit Karan Stadium to do running and also go to Cricket Academy of Karnal for practice," said Saini. 

"We haven’t been told about how things will start again, but we are in touch. He (Arun) keeps asking about what I’m up to, what I’m doing to stay fit. He is keen for me to keep doing running drills," he added.