Punjab seamer Sandeep Sharma, who swings the ball well, has added pace to his bowling too, winning him admirers.
A long-time bowling coach of Kings XI Punjab’s, Joe Dawes, acknowledged the improvement shown by the 21-year-old seamer. “He started really well in Dubai last year. He took a lot of wickets in the first five, six games.
“But he probably got a little ahead of himself, thinking maybe of selection in the national team.
“He was trying to bowl a little bit too fast and lost his shape a little bit. Also coming back to India, the ball did not swing as much at all venues.
“He’s wise to realise he needed to add some variety to death bowling; he’s done that.
Extra pace“He has also added extra pace and he’s still managing to swing the ball which is really important.”
Dawes felt it was good to come back to Pune after a win against Mumbai Indians. “It’s a good win against Mumbai; hopefully we can carry the momentum to the rest of the tournament.
“We got on a roll last year, but last year was last year. We have pretty much the same squad, and strengthened it with the inclusion of Murali Vijay. The squad has lot of confidence, lot of faith in its plans and its processes.
“We showed in Mumbai that our process was working really well. We should have won that game by more than we actually did. But Harbhajan had his day out. It was just cricket.’’
Veteran left arm seamer Zaheer Khan had some bowling work out at the Gahunje village stadium here.
He and Mohammad Shami are unlikely to be part of the playing eleven against Kings XI Punjab here on Wednesday.
A Delhi Daredevils press release said: “Zaheer Khan and Mohammed Shami are nursing minor injuries. Zaheer has a niggle, but is progressing well and should be available for selection once the medical team has assessed him.
“Shami has a minor knee injury and is consulting a specialist to chart a quick recovery process.”
Delhi’s head coach Gary Kirsten said: “We look forward to the return of Zaheer and Shami to the playing XI. So far the bowling unit has stood up well and made the most of the opportunities.
“The most pleasing aspect of our bowling has been the performance of the spinners and the younger fast bowlers.”
