What’s the story?
India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has altered his approach and adapted remarkably after failing to understand why the white ball has not offered swing for the seamers in English conditions.
“It’s very difficult to point out why the ball is not swinging in England. The wickets are not generally this hard in England during this time of the year. During the Champions Trophy in 2013 and the next year during the Test series, the wickets were soft. I don’t know whether that’s the reason or something to do with the quality of the balls, but as everyone is watching, it’s difficult for the bowlers to get swing,” Bhuvneshwar said.
“When the ball doesn’t swing then you have to alter the length. You have to bowl a bit back of the length. Normally, we bowl fuller lengths to get wickets but here we are holding the length back,” he added.
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The 27-year-old has bowled 22.3 overs so far in the ongoing Champions Trophy and has taken four wickets, conceding just 100 runs at a decent economy of 4.44.
The heart of the matter
India’s leading seamer was puzzled with the fact that the white ball has not swung in English conditions. Swing has always been seamers’ premier weapon in England, but this year’s CT has told us otherwise. With the ball not swinging, Bhuvneshwar mentioned that he decided to hold his length back in order to suppress runs and choke the batsmen.
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This approach worked superbly against South Africa’s top order batsmen. He also added that their (India’s) usual strategy to take wickets with the new ball has been to pitch it in the good length or fuller region, whereas this time they have attacked with the back-of-a-length delivery.
What’s next?
India entered the semi-finals as the table-toppers of Group B after comfortable defeating South Africa in their last game. They will face Bangladesh in the semis on June 15 at Edgbaston.
Author’s take
It is surprising that the wickets haven’t offered swing in England but what has been impressive is that the Indian pacers have adapted well and worked proactively to come up with such an effective solution.
The bowling department has bounced back after the setback against Sri Lanka and will look to continue their form in the upcoming games.
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