Navdeep Saini didn’t get a chance to share the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah in his six international games and no wonder he is excited at an opportunity to pick the brains of India’s pace spearhead during the upcoming series against Sri Lanka.

Saini, has so far played an ODI and five T20 Internationals but Bumrah has either been rested or was out due to his stress fracture on lower back during these games.

The 27-year-old had a memorable last year when he made impressive debut in white ball cricket as he hopes put in those hard yards to cement his place in a highly competitive bowling attack ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup in October.

“Our bowling attack is the strongest at the moment and that gives me that extra motivation. And that I have to work even harder to secure a regular spot,” he said when asked where does he see himself in the World Cup-bound Australia squad.

Known for his fiery pace, the man from Karnal in Haryana impressed with figures of 3/17 on his international debut in the West Indies tour last year.

“I had prepared well for my debut match and thankfully that yorker came off well. Let’s hope to do well again. I am just keeping my preparation going,” the wiry pacer said about his dream spell of 3-0-10-2 in Cuttack when he cleaned up Roston Chase with a deadly yorker and also accounted for the in-form Shimron Hetmyer.

With Mohammed Shami rested and the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar injured, Saini is a part of the squad for the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, followed by the three ODIs against Australia.

“All my hard work paid off and I had a successful 2019. It’s about putting in that extra mile again so as to secure my place.”For Saini, the challenge will be to become mentally stronger when the batsmen go on offensive.