NEW DELHI: Former India pacer Ashish Nehra believes that Navdeep Saini should be the “first choice” for the third fast bowler’s slot in the upcoming third Test against Australia because of his extra pace and ability to extract disconcerting bounce.
While Shardul Thakur and T Natarajan are also in contention, the former left-arm pacer feels the selection of Saini for the Sydney Test, starting Thursday, is a no-brainer if one goes by pure cricketing logic.
“If you look at squad composition, Saini was first choice and Shardul and Natarajan both came in as replacements for Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav,” Nehra said on Tuesday.
“So if Saini was ahead of them during initial Test squad selection, I don’t see any reason why he would slip down in the pecking order. You selected him first, so obviously you believed he was better than other two. Isn’t it,” Nehra, known for his plain speaking, said.
But don’t you think Saini’s indifferent show in two white-ball games before he suffered a niggle should count?
“By that logic, then KL Rahul (now injured) should have opened in first two Tests. It doesn’t happen like that,” the 42-year-old said.
Then he gave his points as to why Saini would be better suited for Sydney.
“Navdeep’s biggest asset are bounce and extra pace. This is a Test match. How does Natarajan normally gets his wickets? When people are trying to hit him. Also, you haven’t tested Natarajan by playing him for India A like you did with Mohd Siraj, who has risen through the ranks,” said Nehra.
“Similarly, Navdeep has also come up the ranks having been on multiple red ball tours of India A. In Test matches, batsmen normally don’t get out. You have to get them out. That’s the difference.”
The white-ball games that were held in Sydney indicated that the deck was a flat one and express pace comes in handy on such surfaces. (AGENCIES)
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