Updated December 25th, 2019 at 16:43 IST

Navdeep Saini talks about how he got the better of hard-hitting Shimron Hetmyer

Navdeep Saini had revealed how he had set-up the hard-hitting Shimron Hetmyer and had got the better of him in the series-deciding 3rd ODI on Sunday

Reported by: Karthik Nair
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Navdeep Saini had made his ODI debut in the series-deciding third ODI against West Indies at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. Saini was roped in as a replacement for pacer Deepak Chahar who was ruled out due to a back injury. He made the most of the opportunity that was provided to him as he took a couple of crucial wickets to derail the visitors' momentum when the partnership between Shimron Hetmyer and Roston Chase looked threatening. However, the youngster has gone on to say how he had set up the hard-hitting Hetmyer.

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Saini on how he got the better of Hetmyer

During an interview with a leading publication, Navdeep Saini said that when he was playing Ranji Trophy, he was not thinking much about white-ball cricket. He then mentioned that his childhood friend Mohit Kalyan who is also a Haryana batsman follows a lot of cricket on TV and it was then that the young pacer had called Kalyan to know who was batting well after he had received a call-up for the 50-overs format. He was then informed that Shimron Hetmyer, as well as Kieron Pollard, were batting well and it was then that he had come up with the plan of bowling certain lengths to the big-hitting Caribbean batsman. 

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Navdeep Saini on executing the plan 

When asked about executing the plan i.e. whether bowling on the body was a part of the set-up, Saini said that it was exactly what he had planned for. The youngster added that he was aware that the West Indian big-hitters love room outside off-stump which he had discussed with Mohit Kalyan. He then added that he had decided to bowl short and close to Shimron Hetmyer's body with his pace as he knew that it would not be easy for the southpaw to pull him from that length. Navdeep Saini had finished with figures of 2/58 from his 10 overs at an economy rate of 5.80. 

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Published December 25th, 2019 at 16:43 IST