Four extra pacers to travel South Africa with Indian team as net bowlers

The Indian batsmen struggled in the swinging conditions of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Kolkata and the first ODI against the same opponents in Dharamsala on Sunday. And while it was believed that the two-day warm-up game would provide the Virat Kohli-led team with a chance to get themselves acclimatised to the difficult conditions that South Africa has to offer, the warm-up game was cancelled and instead, the Indian team has now decided to take Hyderabad’s Mohammed Siraj, Madhya Pradesh’s Avesh Khan, Navdeep Saini of Delhi and Kerala’s yorker specialist Basil Thampi with the team as net pacers.

“These four are the next-in-line bowlers after the top five who are in the Test squad. Since the pacers in the Test squad should not be put under overexertion during the net sessions, it is only prudent that the next best lot of quick bowlers are there to provide quality practice,” a BCCI official told PTI.

While Siraj has already made his international debut against New Zealand in T20Is, Thampi, along with Siraj, has been a part of the squad for the forthcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka. While Saini picked up 22 wickets in six matches for Delhi, helping them enter the semi-finals after 9 years, Avesh has been a part of Board Presidents’ XI and is known for his raw pace.