Over 12 years years after he impressed with his incisive swing bowling in the Under-19 World Cup, which India won under Virat Kohli, 29-year-old left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan will travel to the UAE with Delhi Capitals as a net bowler along with five others.
Apart from Sangwan, Pawan Suyal, another left-arm seamer who has played for Mumbai, is also in the list of net bowlers for Capitals. Delhi allrounder Pranshu Vijayaran, Railways left-arm spinner Harsh Tyagi, and two relatively unknown youngsters - left-arm wristspinner Rajat Goel and pacer Bobby Yadav - complete the list.
"Yes, Sangwan and Suyal are travelling as net bowlers. Pranshu is the third guy and even Harsh who now plays Ranji Trophy is our boy as he represented Delhi during his India Under-19 days. Rajat is a local club cricketer while Bobby is from UP," a senior DDCA official told PTI on condition of anonymity.
For Sangwan, who has played for Delhi Daredevils (Capitals' earlier avatar), Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Lions and Kolkata Knight Riders in the past, it's like life coming a full circle after he played alongside Mohammed Asif and Glenn McGrath for the Daredevils before being the first Indian cricketer to be banned by BCCI for failing a dope test in 2013.
"Sangi [Sangwan] has suffered a lot due to injuries in past few years. So has Suyal, who has now cut down his run-up consistently after stress fractures and back injuries. Hope bowling in IPL nets help them" Delhi cricket official
"Sangi has suffered a lot due to injuries in past few years. So has Suyal, who has now cut down his run-up consistently after stress fractures and back injuries. Hope bowling in IPL nets helps them," the official, who has tracked both since their younger days, said.
The logic behind having two left-arm quicks in the pack of six is because all the primary squad speedsters are right-arm bowlers - Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan. "You need variation at training and hence Sangi and Suyal are on board. They are experienced first-class players, who will provide quality practice," a source told PTI.
Goel is one of the players, who has been a regular at the Capitals nets over the years and has done well in the office-cricket circuit, and is expected to simulate the bowling of Knight Riders' Kuldeep Yadav. Bobby is a right-arm fast-medium bowler who is expected to make his first-class debut for Uttar Pradesh in the coming season.
With Axar Patel being the main left-arm spinner in the Capitals line-up, Tyagi could be an important bowler during net sessions. "DC has two wristspinners in Amit Mishra and Sandeep Lamichhane and two fingerspinners in R Ashwin and Axar. Harsh is typical shorter-format bowler, who bowls the restrictive line. It would be good exposure for him," the source said.
Allrounder Vijayaran, who was first spotted by Gautam Gambhir, bowls wicket-to-wicket and is known to have variations in his slower deliveries.