Former Test pacer Raju Kulkarni says there’s no comparison to the skills and fighting spirit of India’s fast bowlers after Oval heroics
India’s Akash Deep (left), Mohd Siraj (centre) and Prasidh Krishna after their win over England at the Oval. PIC/Getty Images
If India want to win Test matches, especially in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries, skipper Shubman Gill needs a pace-bowling arsenal that can take 20 wickets in a game consistently. And the Mohammed Siraj-led Indian bowling attack has proved that they are capable of doing it after levelling the five-match series against England (2-2) recently.
Former Test pacer Raju Kulkarni reckoned the current India pace bowling unit is the best in the world. “Undoubtedly, we have the best fast bowlers in the world, there is no comparison. I’m sure [Jasprit] Bumrah is taking other [Indian] fast bowlers along with him. He looks like a bowler, who knows that he will not be able to play five Tests in a row, [so] he is encouraging other bowlers and this has changed everyone’s body language,” Kulkarni told mid-day on Thursday.
Raju Kulkarni
While Bumrah, the most experienced pacer in the squad, played only three Tests in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series due to workload management, Siraj (23 scalps to emerge highest), Prasidh Krishna (14 wickets) and Akash Deep (13 scalps) complemented each other perfectly to win the second game at Birmingham and the fifth at the Oval.
“Siraj gave his best and that inspired our other bowlers as well. Siraj is the most spirited and motivated pacer in the world. He has this never-give-up attitude, always trying, you can make out. He’s very emotional. Just look at the way he bowled on the last day of the Oval Test. I think the England batsmen were frightened. Even Prasidh was bowling quickly in the last match and was almost was unplayable.
The fighting spirit of our bowling unit was fantastic. This is why I felt that these bowlers are more than capable of getting wickets even if we don’t have Bumrah all the time,” added Kulkarni, a former Mumbai captain.
Going forward, Kulkarni felt that the Indian team management must preserve Bumrah, 31, and continue to pick him selectively. “In today’s cricket, you will rarely find your main bowler playing all five matches in a series, especially someone like Bumrah [who has claimed 219 wickets in 48 Tests]. Instead of forcibly playing him in all five Tests, it is better to use him like a gun in selected matches, as he is like an AK47. They say fast bowlers come in pairs like [Australia’s] Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, [West Indies’s] Michael Holding and Andy Roberts. Similarly, I can say that we have Bumrah and Siraj,” Kulkarni signed off.
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