2007 -World Cup winner RP Singh feels that pacer Mukesh Kumar’s role in the Indian team has not been defined by the team management, as he was not given a specific role to perform for the team in the five-match T20 series against West Indies.
The 29-year-old was used as the death bowler in the T20 series against the West Indies as the new ball duty was carried by the Indian skipper Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh. The Bengal pacer was rarely used in the middle over with the Indian spinner bowling at the phase of the game.
In a discussion on Jiocinema, RP Singh feels that the team management and captain need to discuss his role in the team, as he was not given a proper role in the T20 side and believes that fast bowlers need an opportunity with the new ball followed by the death overs which was not the case for the debutant in the West Indies series.
“The team management and captain will have to think about how they want to use him. In the current picture, Mukesh Kumar’s role didn’t get defined for sure. It didn’t get defined what he brings to the table as a bowler.”
“In my opinion, you need to give a fast bowler a few overs with the new ball and then at the death. Probably after one stage, the Indian team management and captain agreed that he is a death bowler and that is why he was seen bowling towards the end,” RP Singh said.
The 29-year-old ability to swing the ball both ways makes him quite a prospect to open with the new ball for India in the forthcoming Ireland series and the Asian Games 2023. The Bengal pacer bowled with a lot of disciplines hitting in the right line and length in all three formats for India against West Indies.
Mukesh Kumar Is Bowling A Good Yorker At The Death – RP Singh
RP Singh also highlighted the fact that Mukesh Kumar was not allowed to complete his full quota of overs in the T20 series against the West Indies and also feels that he wasn’t given the opportunity to showcase his skill set in the series and lauded him for death over bowling.
“He wasn’t even given his full quota of overs. That also became a reason for concern. Mukesh Kumar didn’t show any great skills but he probably didn’t get that opportunity as well. He is bowling a good yorker at the death,” RP Singh added.
Mukesh Kumar bowled around 13 overs across the five games for India in five-match series predominantly in the death overs picking up three wickets at a decent economy rate of 8.80 and would look to prove his worth for the Indian team going forward.