Naman Dhir has been in excellent form since making his national team debut earlier this month in a home T20I series against the West Indies
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India’s Naman Dhir plays a shot during the fifth T20I match between India and West Indies at MChinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday, October 17, 2026(Photo: IANS/Dhananjay TK)
Newly appointed Mumbai Indians head coach Kieron Pollard spoke highly of Punjab batter Naman Dhir who recently made his national team debut earlier this month and has already taken the world by a stormHis initial performances have left everyone impressed with his skillset and as experts believe, Dhir is expected to play a key role for the Indian team in the years to come.
Naman Dhir made his first impression with the bat during the 2024 Indian Premier League season for the Mumbai IndiansOn his IPL debut against the Gujarat Titans, Dhir smashed three fours and a six in an over to score 20 off 10 from the number three positionHe played a total of seven games that season and ended up with 140 runs at a strike rate of 177.21.
Those performances led the Mumbai Indians to use the Right to Match (RTM) card for him in the 2025 IPL auctionNaman Dhir has been, since, a very important player for the five-time IPL championsHis stats have only improved over the last two seasons where he has scored 252 and 318 runs respectively at strike rates of over 140.
His ability down the order has been identified by the Indian team management and Naman Dhir has well and truly repaid the faith shown on himTake his contribution in India’s first two T20Is in New Zealand, for example, where he played two crucial match winning knocks from number 7 to help India gain a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
As it appears, Naman Dhir is certain to give competition to the other all-rounders in the Indian team ahead of some major international tournaments coming up in the next two years, including the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup, the T20 World Cup and Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
For that, he will need to be consistent enough to seal a spot in the national side and his new Mumbai Indians head coach believes Naman Dhir has come a long way, but still has a lot more to experience and achieve.
“Naman has come a long way since he first joined Mumbai Indians in 2024We saw the potential in him early on, and it has been encouraging to see how he has worked on his game, adapted to different roles and grown in confidence,” Kieron Pollard told Cricbuzz.
Pollard also gave an insight about Dhir’s personality and willingness to learn and put in the hardThe former West Indies all-rounder, who was a part of MI’s all five IPL winning seasons, also had a reminder that the 26-year-old is at the very beginning of his career.
“He is someone who wants to learn, listens to the people around him and is willing to put in the hard workThat is an important part of a player journeyAt the same time, we must remember that Naman is only at the beginning of his careerThere is a lot more for him to learn, experience and achieve,” Pollard concluded.
Naman Dhir will be in action today for the third T20I against New Zealand at the Hnry Stadium in Wellington.
