With their conscious effort to nurture budding talent, Mumbai Indians have nurtured rookies to gain technical insights from some of biggest stars in world cricket. Among the youngsters looking to get a foothold this season are Kumar Kartikeya and Raghav Goyal, both left-arm wrist spinners, a rare speciality in the game.
While Kartikeya had an impressive debut season with the Paltans last year, Goyal is a part of the squad for the first time. Both are being trained at MI by two-time World Cup champion Brad Hogg, one of the best left-arm wrist spinners of all time.
"Yeah, I'm just over here helping a couple of spinners. There's a couple of wrist spinners in here," Hogg said, adding, "I keep talking to the boys about plans and methods in the middle and how we can try and improve as the year goes on."
Kartikeya, one of the consistent bowlers on the domestic circuit with Madhya Pradesh, is capable of bowling orthodox spin too. He was a key player for his state team on its way to Ranji Trophy title last season.
"One thing that really impresses me is his work ethic. It's just fantastic. He just wants to evolve and keep learning," Hogg said praising Kartikeya.
Meanwhile, Goyal is yet to debut at the professional senior level in any of the three formats. And Hogg is working on getting him ready for big tournaments like IPL. "Raghav is a very interesting player. He has never been exposed to this type of cricket before. He's learning about what it takes to be a first-class cricketer," said Hogg.
Like the former Aussie tweaker, the greenhorns are equally excited to be working with him. "He is one of the best left-arm wrist spinners I have seen in my life," Kartikeya says before acknowledging Hogg's coaching philosophy which involves putting the youngsters at ease. "He is fun loving. So, I love to be coached by him."
Goyal, 22, says he has been a fan of Hogg for long. "He is one of my favourite bowlers. I have admired him since childhood."
In the short period that he has been around the youngsters, Hogg has already made an impact. "He is a very positive person. He tells me about how he fought every situation. He tells me about how to stay positive everytime, how to buck up and how to push yourself. So, I have learnt a lot from him," feels Goyal.
