World Cup 2019: Navdeep Saini called-up as net bowler for India ahead of West Indies clash

Navdeep Saini on Monday arrived in Manchester as a net bowler to provide practice to Indian batsmen ahead of the World Cup match against the West Indies, scheduled for June 27.

The right-arm fast bowler, who played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2019, is the only net bowler with the Men in Blue and he will train with them, said BCCI.

Saini was named as one of the stand-by players when the Indian selectors had announced the 15-member squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

Deepak Chahar and Avesh Khan, the reserve bowlers, returned to India in the first week of June, while Khaleel Ahmed remained with the team. However, now with the departure of Khaleel, the Indian team has no net bowler.

The BCCI sent out an official message saying: “Navdeep Saini has arrived in Manchester. Navdeep is the only net bowler here and he will train with the Indian cricket team.”

The call-up of Navdeep can probably lead to him being the stand-by of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who suffered tightness in his left hamstring and walked off the field during the clash with Pakistan and subsequently missed the match against Afghanistan.

However, BCCI has said that Saini has joined as a net bowler and not as anybody’s cover like Rishabh Pant had come in as cover for Shikhar Dhawan.

India sit at the third place in the World Cup standings with nine points from five matches. The team won four games with one getting washed out. 

(With Agency Inputs)