With India having Gautam Gambhir's as team's head coach, his childhood coach Sanjay Bhardwaj feels that Gambhir can bring back fast bowler Navdeep Saini into India's set-up.

The former India opener's first assignment as India's head coach will be the tour of Sri Lanka where India will play three T20Is and three ODIs against the host nation. Known for his straightforward approach, the new era under Gambhir can see India making some tough decisions.

It is expected that separate teams will be announced for both formats of the Sri Lanka tour.

Sanjay Bhardwaj feels Gautam Gambhir can bring Navdeep Saini back into India's squad

While speaking to the news agency PTI, Sanjay Bhardwaj felt that left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and fast bowler Navdeep Saini are Gambhir's products and could come into the reckoning now. Bhardwaj lauded Gambhir's observational skills and tactical understanding.

While Kuldeep is already in India's first-choice squad, Navdeep Saini seems to have lost the way. At one time, Saini was touted to be India's future fast bowler but a loss in form and fitness concerns hampered his chances of making it to the Indian team.

On the other hand, Kuldeep Yadav played a key role in India's T20 World Cup 2024 win recently. The left-arm wrist-spinner played five matches in the tournament, picking up 10 wickets at an average of 13.90 and an economy rate of 6.95.

Navdeep Saini has played domestic cricket with Gautam Gambhir for Delhi while Kuldeep Yadav was in the KKR squad when Gambhir was the captain of the side.

Sanjay Bhardwaj also hailed Gautam Gambhir's valuable contributions to Indian cricket. He stated that Gambhir has a habit of taking up challenges and coming out successfully.