New Delhi: There is a lot of discussion about how the Indian batsmen will perform in Australia. Apart from the excellent performance of the batsmen, the result of the series will also depend on how the Indian bowlers, especially the fast bowlers, perform there. If we judge based on experience, then the Indian pace attack is nowhere in front of the Australian trinity (Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood). If we add the Test wickets of all the six fast bowlers in the Indian team, the number comes to 265. Pat Cummins alone (269 Test wickets) has taken more Test wickets than this.
Australia's trinity has always proved to be lethal on their home ground and when the pitch is Optus Stadium, they will certainly enjoy bowling. The situation will be the same for Indian bowlers as well, the only difference will be in experience. In such a situation, while the Indian team has badly lost the last Test series on its home ground, the biggest challenge for the players will be to remove negative thoughts from their minds.
It is almost certain that Jasprit Bumrah will captain India in the absence of regular captain Rohit Sharma. Bumrah will have dual responsibility on his shoulders. He will have to give his best in bowling and also get the best out of the rest of the team's pacers. Choosing the right length is important for bowlers on a fast and bouncy pitch. Apart from Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj is aware of the conditions in Australia. If Bumrah leads, Siraj will have to give his best from the other end. Siraj's recent performance has not been good. The best will also be expected from the rest of India's pace bowlers included in the playing eleven.
Indian team's bowling coach Morne Morkel expressed satisfaction over the 'match simulation' on the main pitch of the WACA ground and said that they were able to achieve what they wanted from it. India postponed the 'intra squad' match with its 'A' team to better adapt to the conditions here and used 'match simulation' for practice. Morkel seemed happy with the performance of the bowlers during this time. He said, 'I am very happy with the way the bowlers performed. They understood the conditions very well. I think we are moving in the right direction for the 22nd. We still have three more practice sessions
The former South African pacer said, 'We will sit down today afternoon or tomorrow and start planning. We will look at the plans for the match.' Defending Siraj, who has been in poor form for some time, Morkel said, 'He is a great bowler and a person with a strong mentality. His attitude in bowling is aggressive and he is among the top bowlers of the Indian fast bowling attack. I am looking forward to seeing his performance on this tour.' Siraj took 13 wickets in three matches at an average of 29.53 on his first tour of Australia in 2020-21.
The pace bowling attack of the Indian team that went to Australia is undoubtedly inexperienced, but such a situation was also there in the 2020-21 series. Mohammed Shami was not in that series and Mohammed Siraj made his debut. Navdeep Saini and T Natarajan also did not have Test experience then. Both of them also made their debut there. Siraj was third in the list of bowlers taking the most wickets in the series. All these young and 'inexperienced' bowlers helped India win that series. In the current series, the Indian pacers will have to take inspiration from the previous tour. According to former Indian team coach Ravi Shastri, 'The most important thing is to ensure that they start well.'
