‘Rohit Sharma understands tactics more than Virat Kohli': R Ashwin, Varun Chakaravarthy drop verdict on captaincy debate
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Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
‘India's need more important than Jasprit Bumrah's wish to play at Lord's': Former ENG batter says star pacer must play Edgbaston Test
Former England batter Mark Butcher could not wrap his around the probablity of India's seam spearhead Jasprit Bumrah missing the second Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at Edgbaston, starting Wednesday. Butcher felt that Bumrah has had an adequate break since India's series-opening five-wicket defeat to England in Headingley last week and said the team's requirement was more important than the pacer's wish to return to play at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground in the third Test, scheduled to begin next week on June 10. 'Bumrah is going to be a huge talking point as to whether or not this is one of his three Test matches. I think it has to be, it absolutely has to be. Six-day break after Headingley, 1-0 down, he plays. I know he wants to play at Lord's but the needs of the team and the series are more important than his wish to play a Test at Lord's,' Butcher said on the Wisden Cricket Weekly Podcast. 'And who knows, he might get through this one okay and be fine for Lord's, and then you take your chances at the back-end,' Butcher added. Bumrah was head and shoulders above his bowling peers at Leeds when he claimed a superb first-innings five-wicket haul while the rest of the pacers were slammed left and right by England batters. While he went wicketless in the last innings, Bumrah's pace partner Prasidh Krishna ended the match with woeful figures of 5/224, his 6.40 economy the worst of all pacers in history to have conceded as many runs in a match. Butcher said that it was imperative that India consider bringing in a left-arm pace or spin option in Arshdeep Singh or Kuldeep Yadav to replace Prasidh. 'First and foremost, depending on what you've got in you squad, you try and pick bowlers that the opposition – England, with their shot-making preference – would like the least. What they would very much enjoy are mid to low eighties seam bowlers. What they would enjoy much less than that is left-arm leg spin, if you have one – and India do have one. That would be the starting point,' said Butcher. 'A left-arm swing bowler is also perhaps an option. If Arshdeep [Singh] comes in, I think Prasidh Krishna was found wanting…. If you can manage it, you go Siraj, Bumrah, Arshdeep, Kuldeep, Jadeja, and you take the cards where they fall with your batting. Simply because – I said it at the time during the first Test match – I couldn't see how Shardul was going to make enough runs to make up for his lack of potency with the ball,' he added.
Hindustan Times
6 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Shubman Gill's captaincy criticism shut down in brutal fashion, 'transition' highlighted: 'He doesn't have Virat, Rohit'
Following India's loss against England in the Headingley Test, where India let the hosts chase down 371, several cricket pundits criticised Shubman Gill's captaincy. Former England captain Nasser Hussain also pointed out how the likes of KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant were moving the field around and that there were too many captains on the field. Irfan Pathan reckons Shubman Gill needs to be given time to find his footing as the captain of the Test team. (AFP) Shubman Gill was named India's Test captain following Rohit Sharma's retirement from Test cricket. The 25-year-old is leading the team in a transition phase, which involves losing three of its most senior pros: Rohit, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin. To make matters worse for Gill, Jasprit Bumrah will play just three Tests in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, while Mohammed Shami is not in the squad. Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna are leaking runs at a brisk pace. In the series opener against England, India faced two lower-order collapses, while the fielding effort was abysmal to say the least. India dropped at least six to seven catches, with Yashasvi Jaiswal himself putting down four chances. Former India pacer Irfan Pathan reckons Shubman Gill needs to be given time to find his footing as the captain of the Test team. He is leading the team through a transition phase, and it is never easy to take charge when a few senior players leave the team. "There are a lot of talks about his captaincy and the bowling changes and everything. I think we need to give him time. Most importantly, first of all, he is a new captain. And he is captaining the side which is in a transition period. If you look at it, he doesn't have the services of Mohammed Shami, he doesn't have the services of Ravichandran Ashwin, he doesn't have the services of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as far as the dressing room is concerned," said Pathan during a select media interaction organised by Sony Sports Network. "Bumrah is not going to play all the matches. So, his hands are tied. So, that's one thing. He is leading the side for the first time in the toughest tour of England. It's a tough one. Not many sides go to England, let alone India. And they do really, really well. It's a tough tour to actually captain the side for the first time. So, there are a lot of mistakes which happen during those 5-day matches," he added. Heading into the series against England, Shubman Gill, while speaking to Dinesh Karthik for Sky Sports, stated that he has no pressure from head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar as they have given him full freedom. Gill started the series with a bang as he scored a century in his very first innings as a batter. However, he has tougher challenges ahead as the leader of the side. Also Read: Shubman Gill breaks silence on whether Jasprit Bumrah will play 2nd Test vs England "A lot of people talked about his authority. Authority will come with time. The good thing is he scored 100, which will make him comfortable as far as his form is concerned. Once his form is certain, then he is able to make tough decisions," said Pathan. Pathan cites example of Ravindra Jadeja To make a strong case for his argument, Irfan Pathan also cited the example of Ravindra Jadeja not utilising the rough created in the arc of Ben Duckett in the second innings of the Headingley Test. The left-handed Duckett smashed 149 runs in the second innings, and the biggest highlight of his knock was how he kept reverse sweeping Jadeja for boundaries. "I will give you an example like Ravindra Jadeja. There was a rough against Ben Duckett. But Ravindra Jadeja started from around the wicket. Now, as a senior bowler and as a young captain, you will allow that. Ideally, on the 5th day, when the rough is there outside the off stump, you need to come over the wicket to use that rough. But by the time he scored two reverse sweeps, which made Duckett comfortable, he came over the wicket. So, the ball started spinning a lot more and had a bounce as well," said Pathan. "With time, there will be a time with authority, and we need to give him time. If we don't give him time, and if we expect that he will perform straight away. There are a lot of leaders in the past who have done well. Eventually, they took time as well. So, if we give Shubman Gill time, he will settle into the role nicely. And he will be able to be more authoritative with time and performances," he added. Pathan then rounded off the conversation by saying Gill is just one Test old when it comes to captaincy, and he needs to be given time to properly utilise the resources. "He is just 1 Test old as captain. If you had asked me the question after one year of his leadership, I would have said, Okay, this is where he needs to go right. But it's too early right now. He needs to be given proper time," said Pathan. Watch 2nd Test Between India & England on July 2nd, 3:30 PM onwards LIVE On Sony Sports Ten 1 & Sony Sports Ten 5 channels.
India Gazette
8 hours ago
- India Gazette
"England will play Bumrah carefully, Bazball everyone else...": Ravichandran Ashwin
New Delhi [India], July 1 (ANI): Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin believes England will focus on playing cautiously against Jasprit Bumrah while aggressively targeting other bowlers as part of their 'Bazball' approach during the Test series against India. 'It's not about how many overs Jasprit Bumrah will bowl. It's about how we keep the pressure on if Bumrah isn't bowling. So this game is very straightforward, 'We will play Bumrah carefully and then Bazball everyone else'. That is pretty much what England will do,' Ashwin said, according to India lost the Leeds Test despite five of their batters scoring centuries. Only once before has a team lost a Test after registering four hundreds. Australia against England in Melbourne (1928). The second Test begins Wednesday. England's 371-run chase against India in the first test now stands as their second-highest successful pursuit in Test history. Ashwin said that as a bowling unit, India should make strategies to play some defensive cricket. 'So, as a bowling unit, we should make strategies to play some defensive, negative cricket. The kind of wickets England are making, we should play negative, defensive cricket and ask our bowlers to contain them more,' he added. Ashwin felt 'going for the wickets', be it Test cricket or T20 cricket, is all a lie, and pressure gives you wickets. 'The whole point of 'going for the wickets', be it Test cricket or T20 cricket, is all a lie. Pressure gives you wickets. When a bowler keeps a batter at one end for 10 balls and then delivers a good ball, that's what we call rhythm. You have to put the batters under pressure without giving runs, bottling him up. Testing his technique inside out. So if India wants to win the second Test, play Bumrah, even Kuldeep Yadav and make sure the rest of the bowlers are bottling one end up,' Ashwin added. England needed 350 runs in the fourth innings to seal the match, and they did it comfortably in 82 overs. With this win, England go 1-0 up in the five-match test series. India, led by Shubman Gill, will take on Ben Stokes's England in the second of the five-match Test series (Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy) at Edgbaston in Birmingham starting from Wednesday. (ANI)
