Always ready to guide youngsters like Saini: Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is happy with the coming up of bright prospects like Navdeep Saini and says he’s always ready to guide the youngsters when they come in to the national team.

The 29-year-old Bhuvneshwar took two wickets for 19 runs to play an important role in India’s four-wicket win against the West Indies in the first T20 International here on Saturday.

“As a senior player you always want to perform. Even you could not perform you have to contribute to the team. That is the first thing I want to do and luckily I did that,” Bhuvneshwar said at the post-match press conference.

“When young players like Navdeep Saini does well and Khaleel (Ahmed) does well, you want to always talk to them. You want to make them comfortable. That is the first thing I want to do and I always guide them,” he added.

Bhuvneshwar was all praise for Saini who starred in India’s win with figures of 3/17 in his India debut match.

Also read: Navdeep Saini is a raw talent, has bright future: Kohli

“Just before coming into the team he played for India A against West Indies A in West Indies. That is why he did well. When you do well at international level, it gives you a lot of confidence,” said the senior pacer.

“He (Saini) has bowled really well. The most important thing is, he has proved in different stages. He plays so much of cricket, in IPL and for India A. So when he came into the (senior national) team he was very confident.”

Asked about the switching from ODI cricket to T20 format, he said, “Not really mental adjustment because T20 and ODI are the same, not the same format but you have to bowl deck bowling in ODI and T20 as well.

Also read: Debutant pacer Saini stars in India’s 4-wicket win over Windies

“It is only that T20 is a shorter format and when you go to ODI, it takes more load on the body. This is something we always take care of.”

He said the pitch used for the first T20 International match was a bit sticky as it was under cover in the last two days, and was not easy to bat on.

“The ball was not really coming onto the bat, it was a bit difficult for the batsmen.

In the morning, it was a bit moist but got better in the second innings as the sun was out by then.