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Veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has admired the promising fast bowler Mukesh Kumar, noting his impressive performances in the limited opportunities he has had with Team India. Ashwin believes that Mukesh has the capability to replicate the success of Mohammed Shami, particularly highlighting the young pacer's skill in consistently delivering yorkers with precision as a standout quality.
Mukesh showcased his prowess once again for India in the initial T20I against Australia, posting an economical performance of 0 for 29 across four overs. In a crucial 20th over for the hosts, the young pacer effectively contained the hard-hitting Australians Tim David and Marcus Stoinis, conceding a mere five runs. Employing a diverse range of deliveries such as yorkers, bouncers, and wide deliveries around the off-stump, Mukesh successfully thwarted the Australian batter.
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"I initially thought Mohammed Siraj would become the junior Shami, but I now feel it could be Mukesh Kumar. Shami is called 'Lala' and as a tribute to the actor Mohanlal who is called Lalettan, I call Shami Lalettan," Ashwin said in a video on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin proceeded to highlight Mukesh's physique and the positioning of his wrist as supporting evidence for his claim that the emerging pacer has the potential to follow in the footsteps of Shami.
"Mukesh has a similar build, similar height, and outstanding wrist position – he has that great whip of the wrist and terrific back-spin on the ball. He has a very nice straight and nice alignment. He had bowled really well in the series in the West Indies and was outstanding at a practice game in Barbados," Ashwin added.
Ashwin later recounted a fascinating anecdote about Mukesh's journey to a talent identification camp in Kolkata, highlighting how it took just a few deliveries for the young bowler to make a lasting impression on Pakistan cricket legend Waqar Younis.
"When Ganguly took over the Cricket Association of Bengal, he had conducted a talent hunt, he had contracted Waqar Younis, VVS Laxman and Muttiah Muralitharan for that talent hunt program. Imagine, you are going to bowl in front of Waqar Younis, and you were at the toilet. They had called out his name but he wasn't there! He returned, waited for 30 minutes and told them his name wasn't called out. It was then that Waqar Younis, who was about to leave, told him to bowl a couple of balls. Those two deliveries changed his life and he is now bowling for India," the spinner said.
(Powered by AI, Inputs by India Today)
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