India’s rising star Mukesh Kumar shows promise across formats, says bowling coach

Mukesh Kumar, a seamer for India, has impressed bowling coach Paras Mhambrey with his approach and thought process during the current tour of the West Indies, adding that he has demonstrated the resolve to represent India in all three formats of the game.

In domestic cricket, Mukesh represents Bengal, and he made his Test debut at Port of Spain’s Queen’s Park Oval. He made his ODI debut in Bridgetown, Barbados, a week later, and his T20I debut at Tarouba, Trinidad, five days ago. Mukesh has taken eight wickets during the West Indies tour so far.

“I am extremely happy with his (Mukesh’s) progress. Not many guys get a chance to play all three formats on one tour. He is the second, maybe and to do so is fantastic. His thought process and approach are fabulous.”

“He is someone who has come here, played against tough opponents and wickets. I am happy with the character he has shown. We will have to be smart about his workload. He is a young kid, has played a lot of domestic cricket and got quality skills out there,” said Mhambrey ahead of the fourth T20I happening on Saturday night.

He further revealed that young left-handed batters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma will be chipping in with the ball soon.

“When you have someone who can chip in, it is nice. I have seen Tilak and Yashasvi bowl since U-19 days. They are capable of being good bowlers. They can work on it at this level.”

“When you got options like these, it is nice to have them. We will see them bowl soon hopefully, we are working on it. It will take time. Soon, we will see them bowling an over, at least.”

India were 2-0 down in the ongoing T20I series, before coming back to win the third T20I and make the series scoreline 2-1 as action shifts to the USA.

“I am extremely happy with the way we have come back. Even in the first two games, we were not much behind. We just could not seize the opportunities.”

“Had we done so, the results could have been different. The way we played the third T20I, we ticked all the boxes across all the departments. We are only going to go up from there,” added Mhambrey.

He also expects for good batting pitches in the fourth and fifth T20I over the weekend at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida. “It is different, especially when it comes to black soil, from the kind of soil we get in North India. It is a good wicket, will be nice to bat on, with the ball coming to the bat nicely. That is what we saw in the nets. Stroke-making was easy. It could be a high-scoring game.”

“This format is such that batters are going to come after you, especially on a wicket like this. It is important to have discipline. It is important to decide on plans, the execution becomes really important. If you focus on it, you are giving yourself the best chance to be successful,” he concluded.

-IANS