Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif praised Naman Dhir for thinking as a batter and delivering with the ball in the opening T20I against the West Indies at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow, on Tuesday.
Kaif hailed Dhir for pushing the ball wide after he was hit for a six by Romario Shepherd. The WI batter had to reach for the ball and could only manage a top edge.
Dhir returned with impressive bowling figures of 3-31 in his quota of four overs while making his T20I debut. The all-rounder from Punjab accounted for in-form West Indies captain Shai Hope, Romario Shepherd, and Shamar Springer.
“Naman is a batter. So when he is bowling, he is thinking like a batter. This is what I noticed. After getting hit for a six by Romario, he bowled a wide line to get him out. This is an advantage he will have while bowling. I think although he is a part-timer, he showed that he has the ability to become a good bowler. He is mixing his speeds as well. From what I saw, I felt he has the quality and skill,” Mohammad Kaif said in a video on his YouTube channel.
On the other hand, the former Indian batter praised Shreyas Iyer for scoring a majestic knock of 102 runs off just 43 balls. Iyer smashed 10 fours and six sixes and scored his runs at a blistering strike rate of 237.12.
“I am a big fan of Shreyas Iyer’s batting. I have noted one thing that his batting is not affected under pressure. This is a very big thing. There was a lot of pressure as he was not scoring in the last few innings, and then he smashed a hundred. This is the sign of a quality batter. He dominated. He also converted very quickly after 30-40. He was not in form, but he scored a hundred.”
The former UP batter said India must find a way of playing Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi together in the playing XI.
“When Laxman is the coach, he plays Vaibhav. And his team wins too. There is a plan. These calls are taken after thinking it all out. Gambhir still needs to find this way. But we can argue that Shreyas is the common captain. Maybe in the future, they find a way till the 2028 World Cup for all three to play together. Whenever there is a chance, play all three together,” he said.
“You have found ways to make many players debut, right? So many are coming in. So find a way for this to happen as well. Maybe they cannot now, but they have to figure out how to do this in the future. The kind of players we are getting now, it is lucky to be coaching, actually. You only need to make the right selections and back them then. Your eyes have to be on building the right team and picking proper players.”
India will next take on the West Indies in the second T20I on Friday.
