Will Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma bowl? India's bowling coach reveals a new role for batsmen

India's interim bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule has revealed that the Indian batters will be seen bowling more often in the upcoming games. Recently, many Indian batters like Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, and Suryakumar Yadav were seen rolling their arms over in the series against Sri Lanka.

Rinku Singh and Suryakumar Yadav recently bowled the last two overs of the third T20I against Sri Lanka and pulled off a spectacular tie for India. Both produced combined figures of 4-8 in two overs to take the game to the Super Over and later on, India went on to win the match.

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Sairaj Bahutule reveals a new role for India's batsmen

While speaking at the press conference after the first ODI between India and Sri Lanka, Sairaj Bahutule revealed that Indian batters will be given chances to bowl in the match. He cited the examples of Rinku Singh and Suryakumar Yadav whose crucial two overs won the game for India in the third T20I.

"I think our batters are good bowlers as well. Their primary skill is batting, so they don't focus much on bowling, but they have the skills. The more they will practice. Whenever they will be given an opportunity. Like we saw in the T20Is, the way Rinku and Suryakumar contributed and made India win the match. Similarly, Shubman Gill was given an opportunity and, in the coming time, it is definitely going to be an all-rounder's game," Bahutule said.

It helps if the someone in the top five bowls, claims Sairaj Bahutule

Bahutule also added that it will help the team if a batter can bowl as well. He called the use of a part-timer as an element that can surprise the opposition batters.

"But if in the top four or five, if someone can bowl, that definitely helps the team. Moving forward, you will see more contributions. I think we can use our bowlers as per the situation and the pitch conditions. Somebody who can bowl as a batter, it can be a surprise element for the opponent. So, moving ahead, there will be ample opportunities for the batters to bowl," he said.

India have been struggling to have good part-time bowling options for a long time now. After the retirement of Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, the Men in Blue have hardly had any decent part-time bowling option which has cost the team on several occasions. Although Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli used to bowl a bit during the early parts of their careers, both of them stopped bowling due to injury concerns.

In the third T20I against Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka were way ahead with 9 needed off 12 balls with 6 wickets in hand. But Rinku Singh picked up 2-3 in the penultimate over while Suryakumar Yadav picked up 2-5 in the last over of the match to tie the game.

In the Super Over, Sri Lanka lost both the wickets for just 2 runs leaving India with 3 runs to win the match. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav swept the first ball for a towards short fine leg where a misfield ensured a four and a win for India.