What’s the story?
India’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar has shed light into the thought-process behind the team’s bowling combination in the one-off Test against Bangladesh at Hyderabad. The 44-year old cited skipper Virat Kohli and coach Anil Kumble’s plan to form a balanced bowling attack as the reason for placing faith on their fast bowlers despite the pitch being quite flat.
At the end of play on day three, Bangar said, “You need to give a lot of credit to how the captain (Kohli) thinks and how Anil thinks about it. It's very important that the bowling unit is developed in such a fashion that even when India tours overseas, spinners will have to play a particular role and role reverses for seamers when they play in India.”
“You need to develop a bowling attack that gives you results in all conditions. That is the thinking that goes behind, showing faith in quicker bowlers. You don't see often in India that three spinners are playing (over the course of the current home season) but there are also two seamers in the line-up. Lots of credit should go to Virat and Anil for the way they have planned things for Indian cricket.”
The Context
With Kohli backing them on a regular basis, the pace bowlers have shown signs of taking on the responsibility by providing breakthroughs during key moments. Considering the nature of their opponents, India opted for three seam bowlers and two spinners in the Hyderabad Test instead of the other way around.
The heart of the matter
The likes of Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar all found a place in the eleven while off-spinner Jayant Yadav was left out. Pace spearhead Mohammed Shami was not available for selection duo to a knee injury.
Bangar pointed towards the different strengths of each of the three pacers selected for this Test. However, he singled out Umesh for his ability to reverse the ball at significant pace and felt that his fuller length takes him a notch above both Ishant and Bhuvneshwar.
Even as the other bowlers struggled to remain penetrative on a docile surface, Umesh repeatedly troubled Bangladesh’s batsmen and ended the third day as the pick of the lot with two wickets.
What’s next?
The impressive performance of the fast bowlers bodes well for the Indian team when the Aussies tour India this month. The team have a capable bunch of young bowlers who could possibly succeed in foreign conditions, too.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Bangar’s assessment on Umesh stems from the Vidarbha pacer's recent improvement on his wrist-position and balance at the crease. As a result, his issues with control seem to have reduced substantially. Kohli and Kumble’s emphasis on giving seamers the platform to contribute should hold the team in good stead when the next round of overseas tours begins.
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