The Indian team has often struggled to find the right bowling combination, but Mohit Sharma could have eased some of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's worries with the promise he showed in the World Cup match against Pakistan.
Be it Roger Binny or Madan Lal, who shared the third seamer's duties after Kapil Dev and Balwinder Singh Sandhu during the historic 1983 World Cup campaign in England, or Ashish Nehra complementing Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan in the 2003 edition, India have always found their 'Go-To' Man.
Even before he was inducted into the main team from stand-by list, Mohit impressed with his length and movement against England in Perth. Ishant's injury opened the World Cup doors for him.
His two for 35 against Pakistan, coming as a change bowler, was pretty impressive.
He has certainly shown consistency, as his career economy rate of 4.87 in 90.1 overs in international cricket indicates.
"So far Mohit has been really consistent with his line and length, which I feel is the key for him. He has that variation of pace. He uses the bounce so well. So far he has proved himself," the 26-year-old got the vote of confidence from his skipper, who praised him after the Pakistan match.
‘Mohit quite consistent with his line and length’
Dhoni too complimented Mohit's strengths. "He's (Mohit) not someone who gets a lot of bounce, but he's quite consistent with his line and length. I felt if he bowled well with the new ball, if we get more wickets with the new ball, we can put pressure," Dhoni explained.
Although Mohit, according to Dhoni, is ticking all the boxes, he wants to keep things as flexible as possible with various combinations.
"What we are doing right now is every day we have to see. Okay, today who's bowling well, and accordingly we will set a plan. It's not like you have a fixed role assigned for everyone," Dhoni said.
‘A lot of improvisation is going on’
For Dhoni, "improvisation" is mantra for putting pressure on opposition.
"I feel a lot of improvisation is going on because this is the best that we have got, and we have to improvise and use it in the best possible manner," opined India's captain.
"Every time, you have to see, okay, today this guy is bowling really well. How to use him, how to use spinners in a specific way, because if you see, if you compare how we have been using spinners and how we are using fast bowlers in the middle overs, it's entirely different to how we have done so far," observed Dhoni.
