R Ashwin hails Mukesh Kumar’s wrist whip, backs Bengal workhorse to emulate Mohammed Shami

Mukesh Kumar. (Photo Source: Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

After a splendid performance in the first T20I against Australia in Visakhapatnam, Mukesh Kumar has been the talk of the town. In what was a high-scoring affair, the 30-year-old gave away 29 runs in his four overs, including just five runs in the final over. Impressed by his incredible performance, veteran cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin lauded the pacer and analysed his skillset.

Ashwin stated that Mukesh has a similar build, height and wrist position as India pacer Mohammed Shami. He pointed out that the pacer has a great whip and a nice straight alignment, just like Shami and that he has done well in the West Indies as well. He also stated that initially he thought Mohammed Siraj could be the next Shami but now he backs Mukesh to do it.

“I initially thought Mohammad Siraj would become the junior Shami, but I now feel it could be Mukesh Kumar. 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 said on his YouTube channel.

Ashwin shares Mukesh’s journey to Indian team

Ashwin shared how a couple of deliveries changed Mukesh Kumar’s life. Notably, under Sourav Ganguly, the Cricket Association of Bengal did a talent search program and that’s where Mukesh was first spotted. He missed when his name was called and just when one of the experts, Waqar Younis was about to leave, Mukesh bowled a couple of deliveries, which bought him the ticket to India after a few years.

“Ganguly had contracted Waqar Younis, VVS Laxman nand 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 that 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,” Ashwin mentioned.