CWC 2023: 6'9" tall Nishanth Saranu shines during Pakistan's training session in Hyderabad

Nishanth Saranu impressed Fakhar Zaman and Morne Morkel during training session.

Nishanth Saranu | Twitter/X

Hyderabad's young pace sensation Nishanth Saranu caused quite a stir and became the center of attention during the Pakistan cricket team's practice session at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday, September 28, ahead of the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

Standing at a towering six feet nine inches, Nishanth is just in his second year of U-19 cricket, and he idolizes Australian pace legends Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. He joined the ranks of net bowlers and helped Pakistan batters during their training session in Hyderabad.

After seasoned Pakistani pacers like Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi completed their spells, it was Nishanth who caught the eye of the Pakistan support staff, including bowling coach Morne Morkel.

Read More: CWC 2023: 'Warm-up matches will really help teams like Pakistan'- Waqar Younis

The young Hyderabad pacer was asked to ramp up his pace significantly, as Pakistani bowlers are already known for their natural speeds of 140–150 kmph. Nishanth mainly bowled to the tail-enders, but he managed to impress the opener, Fakhar Zaman.

With his height heling him in generating substantial bounce, Fakhar said that if Nishanth could add more pace to his bowling, he could go on to achieve great things in the future.

Nishanth Saranu was quoted as saying by TOI: “I currently can bowl up to 125-130 kmph. Morne (Morkel) sir asked me to increase my pace. He also inquired if I would be available to bowl at the nets of IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants. My aim is to have a career in both white and red ball cricket. So, the immediate goal is to represent Hyderabad at the first-class level.”

 
 

By Rashmi Nanda - 28 Sep, 2023

    Share Via