India vs England 2016: Sunil Gavaskar feels Mohammed Shami's absence was felt during first innings of Mumbai Test

India are currently vying to take a 3-0 lead in the on-going Test series against England, but the Indian bowlers struggled against the visitors for most of the first day’s play of the fourth test in Mumbai. Though India picked up three wickets towards the end of the day, it was surprising to see that all the wickets were taken by spinners and the fast bowlers were barely effective.

Former Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar feels that Mohammed Shami, who is not featuring in the Mumbai test due to injury, could have been a deciding factor in the match and that his absence was felt in the match.

“The impact that Shami had in Mohali, those screaming bouncers that he bowled, also in Vizag. He has also had the knack of troubling Alastair Cook. He has been an impact bowler and I think his absence is been keenly, keenly felt,” the former opener told NDTV after Day One’s play.

“Bhuvneshvar Kumar bowled very well but he was not able to get the luck that you need and later on, I think later on the England batsman were pretty well-settled,” he added.

He also stated that restricting England to somewhere around 350 runs will put India in a dominating position in the Test match. However, the visitors went on to post a total of 400 runs before losing all their wickets.

Swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the replacement for Shami, but he was the most uneconomical bowler of the lot. He bowled 13 overs and conceded one less than 50 runs.

It was indeed a big blow for the Indian team but skipper Virat Kohli had clearly informed during an interview prior to the start of the match that Shami has soreness in his knees and because he is quite prone to knee injuries, giving him rest was best for both him and the team.

“As far as Mohammed Shami is concerned, we will have to take a call in the evening in terms of how he is feeling. After the Mohali Test, he felt some soreness in the knee. We will have to take a collective decision because he has had a history with knee problems. You don’t want to push a player so much so that you lose him for the rest of the season. We still have some time to decide” said Kohli a couple of days ago in an interview.

The last Test England played at the Wankhede was in 2012, where they defeated the hosts and later went on to win the series. It will be a big challenge for the Europeans to get back in the series and maintain their good record in India.