Dhir eager to expand bowling skills

All-rounder Naman Dhir is eager to refine his bowling skills to make a greater contribution to the team's success.

Speaking to reporters on the eve of the third ODI in Mullanpur, Dhir shared insights into his bowling strategy, role clarity within the squad, and the team's tactical adjustments.

"I have been bowling right from the start. You don't bowl often because of the Impact Player rule in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but I bowl for my state (Punjab). 

"Since entering the IPL, I guess I started working a bit more on my bowling, especially in the Mumbai Indians camp, which helped me a lot."

India has taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the ODI series, with the final match to be played in Mullanpur, a ground where Dhir has played plenty of cricket.

Dhir who is yet to bat in the series since he's earned his maiden ODI call-up for the West Indies series and has also replaced Washington Sundar in the T20I squad.

"My thought was to leverage the longer boundary for the right-handers", Dhir said.

"I kept my approach simple, if I got hit toward the long boundary, I was willing to accept that outcome, but I focused on sticking to the plan rather than trying to overcomplicate things."

"I spoke quite a bit with Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) bhai, and he gave me simple plans to bowl according to the batter and what the match situation demands.It has been very helpful for me."

The second ODI in Guwahati proved to be a batter's paradise but Dhir feels India could have done better to restrict the Windies.

"We would want to do better as a bowling unit and restrict West Indies to a lower score.

"The wicket was good for batting (in Guwahati) and we could have gone with better bowling plans to avoid extra leakage of runs. But there will be a lot of bounce for fast bowlers in South Africa (which is the venue for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2027) and that will be handy for the pacers." 

The 26-year old highlighted the clear communication from the team management regarding his responsibilities. 

"The communication given to me was that I will be batting at 6 or 7, and was prepared for being utilised as the 5th or 6th bowler. 

"The thought of batting is always on your mind, no matter what game it is. But yeah, it was good that we won the match, and won it convincingly by chasing a huge total."

Image courtesy: BCCI