Bengal senior team coach Saurasish Lahiri, 41, rated India’s new pacer Mukesh Kumar as the best red-ball bowler in the country at the moment.
Mukesh, 29, earned his India debut in the ongoing second Test against West Indies in Port of Spain. On Saturday, the right-arm pacer claimed his maiden scalp when he dismissed well-set WI batsman Kirk McKenzie (32), caught behind by Ishan Kishan.
In his eight years of first-class cricket, Mukesh has picked 149 wickets from 39 games.
“I think Mukesh is the best red-ball bowler in the country at the moment. His forte is red-ball cricket and he always bowls in the right areas. His USP [Unique Selling Point] is accuracy, he will ask batsmen questions throughout the day. He is more of a Glenn McGrath type of bowler,” Lahiri told mid-day from Kolkata on Sunday.
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Lahiri lavished praise on Mukesh’s ability to dismiss top-order batsmen early in the innings. He recalled: “The moment Mukesh started playing for Bengal, he never looked back. I remember his debut Ranji Trophy match against Haryana at Lahli [in Haryana in 2015-16]. He had four wickets in the first innings which included opener Rahul Dewan [25] and one-drop Virender Sehwag [28].The best part of his bowling is he keeps getting top-order batsmen. I hope Mukesh gets a long run in the Indian team and if he gets that run. He will definitely cement his place in the side as well.”
Mukesh never played any age group cricket for Bengal, but thanks to Cricket Association of Bengal’s (CAB) program—Vision 2020, initiated by former India captain Sourav Ganguly, he got a platform to showcase his talent.
Lahiri revealed how Mukesh got an opportunity in CAB’s Vision 2020 camp because of fast bowling consultant – Waqar Younis and ex-Bengal pacer Ranadeb Bose.
“When our Vision 2020 journey started in 2014, all Bengal age group players there in the camp, but Mukesh wasn’t there because he hadn’t played any of the age group cricket for Bengal. He just came for the selection trials. All players were given a chance to bowl in the presence of Waqar and Murali [Muttiah Muralidaran, who was a spin bowling consultant], but Mukesh was on the sidelines. The camp was about to end but he didn’t get an opportunity to bowl.
“That is when Ranadeb went up to Mukesh and asked him whether he had bowled or not. Mukesh said he hadn’t bowled at all. Then Ranbeb brought him to Waqar and he was allowed to bowl a few balls. After bowling a few balls, he caught every ones eyes.”
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