1983 World Cupper Sandhu believes Sreesanth can learn a few tricks from injured Praveen
1983 World Cupper Sandhu believes Sreesanth can learn a few tricks from injured Praveen
India's 1983 World Cup final hero, Balwinder Singh Sandhu reckons Praveen Kumar must lend World Cup replacement S Sreesanth his street-smart skills ahead of the mega event that gets underway in Dhaka on February 19. Yesterday, Sreesanth was fast tracked into India's 15-man squad as Kumar hadn't recovered from the elbow injury he sustained during the Twenty20 international in South Africa last month.
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| Praveen Kumar was ruled out of the World Cup after failing to recover from an elbow injury. Pic/Getty Images |
"PK will be missed dearly because he's one guy who invariably gets early wickets. He's a street-smart bowler, always uses his brain. He takes calculated risks and has the experience of bowling in pressure situations. Unfortunately, he got injured at the wrong time," said Sandhu.
However, the former Mumbai pacer is an admirer of Sreesanth. "He has been bowling really well. But, in ODIs, he gets rattled when hit. Sreesanth is a rhythm bowler and needs to borrow some street-smartness from PK.
Missing"That's one thing he misses. If he can learn those tricks, he'll be a handful. I see him playing a role at some stage in the tournament.
"One of his plus points is his ability to swing the ball early. In that regard, Sreesanth is a good fill-in for PK, who can swing the ball a lot himself. This World Cup could make him a star," said Sandhu.
Sandhu backed the selectors' decision to pick Sreesanth ahead of Ishant Sharma and Vinay Kumar. He also said it was important that Ashish Nehra, who had a poor outing in the five-match series in South Africa, to prove he can deliver at the big stage and bury the ghosts of the 2003 World Cup final. "Sreesanth has been more consistent than Ishant. It's the fair call by the selectors," said Sandhu.
Asked if the white SG ball would play a part, he said: "It depends on the bowler. I always feel a new white ball can swing a lot. Good swing and seam bowlers will play a big role this World Cup."
