India’s historic twin Test series wins in Australia were largely influenced by India’s impressive bowling line-up. However, the difference between Jasprit Bumrah and other bowlers was evident in the recent 3-1 loss to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. Bumrah stood head and shoulders above the rest with 32 wickets in 151.2 overs at an average of 13.06 and a strike rate of 28.4, but was ahead of other players such as Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana and Nitish. – India’s other pacers consisting of Kumar Reddy got 40 skulls. 351 overs, average and strike rate measurements are 34.82 and 52.6 respectively.
The inexperience of the pacers and over-reliance on Bumrah cast doubt on India’s fast bowling stock for the future. Sunil Joshi, former India spinner and chief selector during India’s 2-1 series win in Australia in 2020/21, is optimistic about the fast bowling prospects, but India will have a left-arm pacer in the lineup. I feel like I’m missing out on that.
“No, we already have Troy Cooley, he’s at NCA, he’s taking care of the fast bowling pool, so I don’t think we need to worry about that. But definitely, we’ve got a left-arm seamer in there. “I missed it.”
“If a left-arm seamer had been there, the angle would have changed a little bit, because most of the batsmen in Australia, England and New Zealand are not very comfortable for left-arm seamers to take the ball away at a different angle.
“We needed variety and fortunately or unfortunately, both our bowlers Yash Dayal and Khaleel Ahmed were there but they couldn’t play. It’s a shame,” Joshi told IANS said in an exclusive interview.
Joshi recalled those days during the 2020/21 series. There, the Indian team suffered a number of injuries to their players, but the players who participated in the tour as net bowlers went on to play, perform and win matches. Apart from their performance in the recent tour, India left a lot of room for improvement in terms of tactics, field placement, bowling changes, etc. against the Australian batsmen.
“In order for each player on tour to perform well, it’s all about showing their individuality. Have we prepared enough for that? Yes, I think so. The responsibility is Did you get it? Yes. So let’s start with the first test match from this tour. Did you learn anything from your opponents in the second and third matches?
“I think that way, because if we had learned something from our opponent, certainly we could have been better and more consistent. If we hadn’t learned… , you need to keep an eye on exploring that, and maintain discipline to put that effort into perspective.”I watched this tour with the mindset of practicing and getting results.
“Tactically, when it doesn’t work, we’re going to be questioned. If it works, we say, okay, that’s a good tactic. You just have to look at how well their tactical moves worked consistently. You look at their fast bowlers, you look at Nathan Ryan, he doesn’t do anything, it’s just patience. I just stayed consistent.
“Again, apart from being gradual, we have been consistent – Nitish, Siraj, Prasidh, Harshit Rana. So in the end, we need to look at ourselves. Yes. Did I do my best in terms of being disciplined? I obviously don’t look at it from an outsider’s perspective.
“When I’m in the dressing room, I wonder if I gave my best effort, did I try my best to stay disciplined in these situations and sessions, did I play my role very clearly, did I do this or that? “I think I should have done it.” So these are very small things, because if you break all of this down, you can understand it,” he elaborated.
Another development that surprised Joshi during the Australia tour was that off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin suddenly announced his retirement from international football after the third Test at the Gabba ended in a draw, a match in which he did not play. That’s what I did.
“I was very surprised by that too, because I don’t know what happened between or between the second and third Test matches, what went well. Ashwin, he was very forthright in his decisions. So I’m not going to say it was a bad decision.
“So we have to respect that, because he’s a modern-day legend of this game, there’s no question about that. But again, what would make him do that?” “Of course we would need to know that. It’s unbelievable and the board, the selection committee and the team management need to answer that,” he concluded.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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