Totally ready for World Cup, says Navdeep Saini
Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer Navdeep Saini, who has been named as one of the standbys for the upcoming World Cup, has stated that he is totally ready for the quadrennial event if he gets a chance to play. The pacer has also been named as a net bowler along with three other cricketers.
Young pacer Navdeep Saini has looked very impressive for Royal Challengers Bangalore in this year’s Indian Premier League. He has consistently been clocking speeds of around 150 kmph and has bowled a few promising spells. His IPL performance coupled with his performance in List A cricket, where he has 57 wickets to his name in just 37 matches, has enabled him to be named as the only standby bowler for the World Cup in England and Wales. He has stated that he is completely ready for the role and is raring to go if given a chance.
“Absolutely (I am ready for the World Cup)... The confidence of doing well in IPL will give me a big boost. If I get a chance in World Cup, I hope to do well,” said Saini, in a post match press conference on Saturday, reported PTI.
The young pacer will also find a place on the flight to England as he was named as one of India’s four net bowlers for the quadrennial event. He vowed to do well in the nets which he reckons will translate to a good performance in the matches.
“We talk during the matches but the most important thing is to pay full attention at the nets. If you do well at the nets, you will do well in a match as well,” he expressed.
“My dad has always told me to give your 110 percent effort wherever you play. I’m putting in that extra effort always in practice session and in a match,” he added.
Dale Steyn, who is making a comeback in the cash-rich league as a replacement for the injured Nathan Coulter Nile, is the latest addition to RCB. Saini shared as to how he stands to gain with the insights from one of the finest bowlers in world cricket.
“I had a discussion with him on the eve of the match. He just told me to bowl the same way and not try anything different,” he said.
In Friday’s encounter against Kolkata Knight Riders, Saini bowled extremely well in the powerplay as he gave away only seven runs and dismissed the dangerous Sunil Narine in two overs. He finally ended up with figures of 31 for one, and was delighted with the bounce on offer at the Eden Gardens.
“I have bowled on other wickets but never generated this kind of bounce anywhere. The plan was to bowl length deliveries as I was getting that extra bounce,” the 26-year-old explained.
Friday’s encounter turned out to be very similar to the previous match between the two sides. RCB opened the batting both the times, scored in excess of 200 and Andre Russell played an unreal knock while chasing in both the matches. The only difference was that KKR failed to get through this time. Saini was ecstatic given the fact that RCB overcame the Russell menace this time.
“Yes it was very much like the first leg match. But we wanted to execute our plans in a better way at the death. It was about out-thinking the batsmen. We wanted to go one step ahead. Against Russell, the strategy was to hit the deck hard to generate a bit of extra bounce,” he signed off.