NEW DELHI: According to former captain Anil Kumble, the uncapped players Yash Dayal, Vyshak Vijaykumar, and Ramandeep Singh ought to receive recognition for their efforts in domestic cricket during India’s tour of South Africa.
A fresh appearance Under the direction of coach VVS Laxman and captain Suryakumar Yadav, India will begin a five-match Twenty20 International series against South Africa on Friday in Durban.
“I hope all these three get an opportunity to play for the Indian team because all of them have really done well at the domestic level,” Kumble was quoted as saying by Jio Cinema.
After Dayal was struck for five straight sixes in an IPL match during the 2023 season, Kumble praised him for making a great recovery.
“Yash Dayal, after those five sixes by Rinku Singh, has certainly come back strong. That shows a lot about his character – what he can bring to the table,” he said.
“He’s a fantastic left-arm seamer and moves the ball both ways. He’s developed his game around bowling in the death overs as well; he did really well for RCB last season,” Kumble added.
Kumble backed the Karnataka bowler Vijaykumar to succeed and said it was unexpected that Royal Challengers Bengaluru did not retain him.
“Vyshak is really good. (Once) again, (he is) a domestic player who’s done a lot of good work for Karnataka. Unfortunately, he didn’t get enough opportunities for RCB, and I was a bit surprised that they didn’t retain him,” he said.
“I hope he gets an opportunity in South Africa. He has all the variations of bowling in the death overs,” Kumble added.
If picked, Ramandeep ought to be tested as a bowler as well, according to Kumble.
“He has really come up with strides, especially after his move to KKR. Batting in that middle period where he’s been that striker, who can really destroy even when he gets three or four balls,” Kumble said.
“That has been the best part about Ramandeep. He’s a gun fielder; we’ve seen that in that emerging championship (Emerging Teams Asia Cup). He bowls a bit too.”
“I hope he gets to do the bowling part as well because people tend to ignore the all-rounders, especially with the impact player rule in the IPL,” Kumble said.
The renowned spinner stated that following his first T20I century in the most recent series against Bangladesh, Indian selectors will be looking for consistency from Sanju Samson.
“That hundred certainly would have given him a lot of confidence. We know the ability of Sanju Samson, he is a class act. The consistency is something that is a little missing, and that’s something I’m sure the Indian selectors would be looking for,” Kumble said.
“Keeping him at the top of the innings, either at Nos 1, 2 and 3 is where he can certainly add a lot of value to this team.”
“He has that backfoot play, plenty of time against fast bowlers, and he can destroy the spinners too. It’ll be good to see how he copes with those four games in South Africa in those conditions,” Kumble said.
