Standing at six feet nine inches, Hyderabad Under-19 pacer Nishanth Saranu became the centre of attention during Pakistan's first net session ahead of the World Cup 2023 in Hyderabad on September 28. Nishanth was among the large pool of net bowlers available for Pakistan's practice session.
Nishanth was selected to bowl by bowling coach Morne Morkel and support staff after Pakistan's premier pacers Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi had completed their spells. The teenager bowled to tailenders and out-of-form opener Fakhar Zaman who was left impressed by the bounce he generated because of height made him stand out of the lot. However, he was nowhere near the pace of Pakistan pacers.
"I currently can bowl up to 125-130 kmph. Morne (Morkel) sir asked me to increase my pace. He also inquired if I would be available to bowl at the nets of IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants," said the youngster who considers Australian pacers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins as their idols.
Morkel’s advice to Nishanth and all the net bowlers was to increase their pace. Morkel is a part of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) which has qualified for playoffs in the last two seasons.
However, this is not the first time Nishanth has bowled to international cricketers. Earlier this year, he bowled to New Zealand batters as well. He posted a picture with their wicketkeeper-batter Glenn Phillips.
The teenager is expected to bowl to Pakistan batters again as they will be in Hyderabad for their warm-up games followed by first two matches in the World Cup till October 10.
"My aim is to have a career in both white and red ball cricket. So, the immediate goal is to represent Hyderabad at the first-class level," he added.
Pakistan arrived in Hyderabad from Dubai on September 28. Pakistan will go up against New Zealand in the first warm-up game on September 29. Their second warm-up game will be against Australia on October 3. They will start their World Cup campaign against minnows Netherlands on October 6. Their second game in Hyderabad is against Sri Lanka.
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