IND vs WI: Mukesh Kumar will be around India setup for a while now, predicts Zaheer Khan

Mukesh picked two wickets in his first innings after Rohit Sharma introduced him into the attack after Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat and Ravichandran Ashwin. His impressive show saw him being promoted to open the bowling alongside Siraj in the second innings.

“He looked good. There’s no doubt about it. He had a good outing out there in his first match, was very composed that showed good temperament. And when you’re looking at the bench strength of this Indian team, it’s looking very solid. You can see say that Mukesh Kumar is going to be around in this set up for a while,” Zaheer told on JioCinema.

However, the former left-arm pacer added that the 29-year-old Bengal pacer will have to increase his pace to make himself more relevant at the international level.

“There is no doubt about that. It’s up to him that how he takes things forward now from here and takes his bowling to the next level. I still felt that he needs to add that a yard or two to his pace if he has to be really successful at this level. He can take a leaf out of Siraj’s book and how he has gone about doing his business,” Zaheer added.

Further, Zaheer said that it would be very crucial how Mukesh manages and backs himself once he is devoid of chance after the comeback of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami in the team.

“You just need to nurture him and keep him with the team. He has to be ready every time because he’s in that position where he might not get a long run. Bumrah might come back and Shami might come back. And then even if he’s had a good outing, he might not get a game to play. So in that scenario, it’s important how you manage yourself because it can be a frustrating phase,” said Zaheer.

Mukesh Kumar is also part of India’s ODI and T20I squad for the upcoming white-ball series against West Indies. He hasn’t made his debut in either of the formats.