Nayar for all seasons

CHANDIGARH: Kings XI Punjab co-owners were hell-bent on getting this gutsy all-rounder. So it didn't come as a surprise when Preity Zinta bid a huge sum of $800,000 to ensure no other franchise could lay its hands on Abhishek Nayar.
The tall all-rounder has made giving Mumbai crucial breakthroughs in the domestic circuit a habit. Though critics argue that he can't make it to the team solely as a batsman or a bowler but if you add his left-arm batting to his effective right arm medium pace, Nayar surely emerges as a more than handy T20 cricketer.After hitting a valuable 99 in the 2008-09 Ranji Trophy final that helped Mumbai bag the cup for a record 38th time, selectors started taking note of his talent.
And he was rewarded soon, making it to the India team that toured the West Indies in 2009. Though he didn't get much opportunity, playing three matches in which India chased down a meager total without losing many wickets, Nayar got a feel of the demands of international cricket that he now needs to cash in upon.
All-rounders play a very crucial role in any T20 side. If someone can roll his arm and hit the ball hard, it gives the skipper the choice of fielding an extra batsman or a bowler, depending on conditions and opposition. Since the team doesn't have Irfan Pathan or Aussie all-rounder James Hopes this time around, Abhishek is likely to shoulder the responsibility of providing crucial breakthroughs and weilding the willow in anger.
Nayar was picked up for special praise by none other than his Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar after he hit Andrew Flintoff, the highest paid player in IPL-2, for three huge sixes in four deliveries at Cape Town in 2009. So it?s given that he has the shots. Only he has to deliver more frequently. And Kings might prove to be the platform Nayar needs to relaunch his international career.