Navdeep Saini Joins Elite List After Impressive T20I Debut

Navdeep Saini, on Saturday, pretty much justified all the hype surrounding him. The speedster from Delhi was one of the most consistent performers in domestic arena in the last couple of years. He also impressed in this year’s Indian Premier League which helped him break into the India A side and finally the senior national team.

Navdeep Saini made his much-awaited international debut during the first T20I against West Indies and made his mark straightaway. On his second ball, he conceded a six to Nicholas Pooran. But just a ball later, Saini bounced out the left-hander. On the following delivery, he made Shimron Hetmyer drag the ball onto the off stump.

Read More : Navdeep Saini Creates History On His T20I Debut For India

After picking two wickets in his first over, he went on to pick up another to finish with impressive figures of 3 for 17 from his four overs. His spell helped India restrict West Indies to just 95 for 9. In reply, India chased down the total in the 18th over by losing six wickets.

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Navdeep Saini was awarded the Man of the Match award for his brilliant display with the ball. In the process, he became the sixth Indian to win the Man of the Match award on his T20I debut. Dinesh Karthik was the first man to achieve this feat in 2006. Pragyan Ojha, S Badrinath, Axar Patel, Barinder Sran are the other players to achieve the prestigious feat.

Following the game, India skipper Virat Kohli heaped praise on Saini and is hopeful the youngster will make the most of the fine start.

“He has come a long way since he started playing in first-class cricket,” Kohli said at the presentation.

“[He] had a great season in the IPL with us (Royal Challengers Bangalore) last year as well. He’s just a raw talent, [with] raw pace and he’s someone who can really build a name for himself. There are hardly any bowlers around who can bowl 150 clicks and he’s one of them. He’s fit, he’s hungry as well. It’s a really good start for him and hopefully he builds on from here,” he added.

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