“Raj was good at both batting and bowling, but I stopped him from bowling when he was around 13. His action was good and I thought he could bowl well at any stage later. I wanted to build his temperament as a batsman and so I groomed him accordingly. He scored a lot of runs, including a double century at the U-14 level. He resumed bowling when he was 16,” Sukhwinder told mid-day from Chandigarh on Sunday.

Bawa was India’s second highest run-getter (252 runs) after opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi (278) and took nine wickets at the World Cup. “There are some players, who give their best in pressure situations and others who perform in comfortable conditions. I told Raj to give his 100 per cent whenever the team needs it. And right enough, he has performed well at a crucial stage and in a big game,” added Sukhwinder.