Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 13 (ANI): Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said the pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is doing the major heavy lifting for the team’s pace attack and talked about ways in which other pacers, most notably Mohammed Siraj, could lessen senior pacers’ workload.
The two teams have shared the spoils in the opening ICC World Test Championship matches in Perth and Adelaide. India secured a commanding 295-run victory in the series opener, while Australia bounced back in the pink-ball Test with a 10-wicket win.
As India gears up for the third Brisbane Test starting from Saturday, a key issue is the Bumrah’s workload. The pacer has taken majority of Indian wickets (12) and delivered majority of the team’s overs, with 54 overs. Siraj is second with nine wickets and 52.5 overs, followed by Harshit Rana (four wickets and 45 overs and Nitish Kumar Reddy (two wickets and 14 overs) among pacers.
Speaking exclusively to Star Sports, Gavaskar spoke on Team India’s heavy reliance on pacer Jasprit Bumrah to lead the bowling attack. He said that Siraj must step up his performances, pick up five-wicket hauls, and break partnerships more frequently to be of help to Bumrah.
“Yes, to a great extent (if India relies too much on Bumrah. You have got to say that. Mohammed Siraj is a good foil, but he has to start getting five wickets in an innings. Otherwise, the load is being picked up mainly by Jasprit Bumrah. But if Siraj can pick up two, three wickets, keep on breaking partnerships, then he certainly helps Bumrah,” he said.
“Harshit, the newcomer, bowled impressively in Perth, was not as impressive in the second game at Adelaide. Maybe he just could not find his rhythm, therefore was not bowling the length that he should have, or the line that he should have. But hopefully, he will have learned. And then that makes it easy. It takes the load off Bumrah. Bumrah can then come in, in short bursts of four or five overs, and be much more effective,” he added.
Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh spoke on who the spinner will be in the third test of the BGT series and revealed Washington Sundar to be his pick.
“If we have to play a spinner, I think Team India will look back at Washington Sundar. Because he played well in Perth and his bowling was also good. He has performed very well in front of New Zealand also. So, he must have felt confident too,” he said.
Piyush Chawla also spoke on Ashwin’s performance in the second test, saying that he kept Aussie batters in check during the second Test and should play the third Test.
“Because after losing one test match, if you think so much about it, it becomes difficult,” he added.
Pujara also said that Washington could be included if the team wants to boost their batting.
“There is no comparison in bowling. Ashwin is a very good bowler. But if they want a little more strength in batting, they can play Washington,” he added.
This year in Tests, Ashwin has 47 wickets in 11 matches at an average of 27.25, with three five-wicket hauls and best figures of 6/88. Sundar has picked 18 scalps in three games, averaging 15.27 with best figures of 7/59.
While Ashwin has a Test century this year, he has scored just 310 runs in 17 innings at an average of 18.23. Sundar has shown capability to hang around more, with 122 runs in three Tests and six innings at an average of 30.50 and best score of 38*.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Brendan Doggett, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal. (ANI)
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