During the U-19 tournaments, he troubled the batsmen with his bounce and movement, which is a lethal combination.
The Ranji Trophy provides opportunities for several young talents to showcase their talent to the world. One such player, Nishanth Saranu, made his Ranji Trophy debut for Hyderabad against Gujarat on the first day of a new season.
Nishanth, who stands at six feet nine inches, has already impressed several players and coaches even before making his red-ball debut. He did not play cricket properly until 2021 and only played sports to lose weight.
“I was too chubby and weighed 102 kg. I tried badminton and I didn’t succeed. I even tried tennis, but it didn’t work. So I started playing cricket for recreation and after that everything happened so fast that even I wonder ‘what really happened?’ because I always thought I was not cut out for sports,” Nishant told The Indian Express.
Like most young bowlers, he also imitated Jasprit Bumrah’s action at the beginning. However, after joining the Coaching Beyond Academy in Hyderabad, run by former India fielding coach R Sridhar, he developed his own action under the guidance of TA Sekhar, who worked on his run and load while helping him improve. refines its action to avoid injuries.
Sridhar revealed that they worked on his pace and action because he was raw when he arrived and at the same time ensured proper body coordination, which could be a problem for a lanky pacer. Former Indian bowling coach Bharat Arun worked on his action and progress in the academy.
“When he came on the scene, he was raw. But you could see with his height that if he acquired the right skills, he would go far. Height was his X factor. So we just worked on his action, pace and fitness because when you’re as tall as him, coordination can be a bit of an issue. And we work on body coordination and prepare it. He has also performed well on the field. His action and pace of delivery had to be worked on and the good thing is that Arun is also keeping an eye on him. Whenever he is here, he bowls,” exclaimed Sridhar.
During the 2023 World Cup, the 19-year-old was Pakistan’s bowler, which attracted the interest of Morne Mokel, who was in Pakistan as a bowling coach. In fact, Morne took his phone number to keep in touch.
Since Morkel is now in India as a bowling coach, he will definitely work with him more and improve his skills further. He could be the ideal one to guide Nishanth at this stage as the attributes of both the players are similar.
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At first he played at a speed of between 125 and 130 km/h, although he generated a considerable bounce. During the net sessions, Haris Rauf told him that his pace would increase once he crossed 18 because he would develop more muscles, and it did.
When India went to Hyderabad for the first Test against England in Hyderabad, Nishanth impressed Rahul Dravid, who was then India’s head coach. While participating in the Vijay Merchant and Cooch Behar Trophy, he was spotted by Mumbai Indians (MI) scouts and Nishanth became a bowler for the team during this year’s IPL.
He played well in the networks, where he mainly talked to Gerald Coetzee while getting useful information from Jasprit Bumrah and others. His slower deliveries were difficult for batsmen to pick in the MI net sessions.
He played in the U-19 Challengers Trophy and the Quadrangular Series, but could not reach the U-19 World Cup in South Africa due to arriving late to these tournaments. He played two matches in the Quadrangular Series and took 6 wickets at 17.50 runs each, including a four-wicket haul.
It’s still early days, but initial impressions suggest that Nishanth can generate some movement off the cover. During the U-19 tournaments, he troubled the batsmen with his bounce and movement, which is a lethal combination.
He would have liked to play in South Africa, where the tracks are lively and produce extra bounce and transportation. He would have been unplayable due to his height, as his natural length would have been ideal for those conditions, but it wasn’t.
On his first day on debut with the red ball, Nishanth took two crucial wickets, dismissing Priyank Panchal and Umang Kumar, conceding 46 runs in his 12-over spell. Given his height and quick learning ability, he is someone to watch out for and will improve from now on.
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