India hire Sri Lankan throwdown specialist to counter left-arm threat
Nuwan Seneviratne will help India deal with several left-arm quicks they will come up against in the Asia Cup
India will have an additional hand helping them out at the Asia Cup in Dubai. It would be the left hand of Nuwan Seneviratne, a throwdown specialist from Sri Lanka, who has played two first-class matches. The idea behind hiring Seneviratne is to primarily counter several left-arm fast bowlers the Indian batsmen will face in the six-nation Asia Cup, which gets underway from Saturday.
India already have a throwdown specialist in Raghavindraa, popularly known as Raghu, who has been credited by many Indian batsmen, including Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, for his high-intensity pitches.
Twenty-year-old left-arm seamer Khaleel Ahmed is part of India's squad in the Asia Cup, but they have not found a long-term left-arm prospect yet. Hence, the Indian think-tank felt they needed assistance from. Seneviratne
In last year's Champions Trophy final, Pakistan's new-ball pair of Mohammad Amir and Junaid Khan tormented India in a one-sided match. Amir packed off India's top three - Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli - while Junaid dismissed Ravindra Jadeja in a match India lost by 180 runs.
Pakistan have four left-arm quicks in their squad in Amir, Junaid, Usman Khan and Shaheen Afridi; Bangladesh have two left-arm seamers in Abu Hider and Mustafizur Rahman while Afghanistan have one in Sayed Shirzad .
Seneviratne could also help India prepare for the Australia tour where Mitchell Starc is likely to be a dominant force with the ball.
Nagraj Gollapudi is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo
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