Sachin Tendulkar was hopeful that the Indian bowlers would turn things around in the game’s longest format unlike their lacklustre performance in ODIs and T20Is where they failed miserably.
In an interview with ANI on Monday, Sachin Tendulkar spoke at length about the Indian bowlers recent performances in preceding ODI and T20I series as barring T Natarajan, who was highest wicket-taker in T20Is, none of the Indian pacers could impress much in the six limited-overs games.
Even the spinners could not trouble the Aussies consistently as even Yuzvendra Chahal was hit for runs in first two ODIs and last two T20Is.
Sachin Tendulkar pointed out that even the best players did not perform in every match. He further noted that the white-ball game was not evenly balanced.
“Every match you are not going to get everything right. Sometimes the batting does not work, sometimes the bowling does not work, sometimes the fielding lets you down. So this is part and parcel of the sport, you are not going to get everything right each time. The balance between bat and ball is not there in white-ball format. That is a different format and Test cricket is different,” Sachin Tendulkar explained.
Indian cricket team will play their first ICC World Test Championship series after the COVID-19 break against Australia in the forthcoming weeks. The Indian bowlers did not have a memorable white-ball series Down Under as they leaked runs at an undesired rate.
Sachin Tendulkar: Bowlers Need To Be Focused On Tests Only And Forget Past
Star India pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were not so effective in ODIs in Australia. Pacers like Navdeep Saini was a total failure leaking runs in first 2 ODIs while Shardul Thakur bowled relatively well in the limited opportunities. Sachin Tendulkar offered some personal advice and asked the fast bowlers to forget the past as tests are a different format altogether.
“It is important to segregate these things, I would personally like the bowlers to be focused just on Test cricket and would want them to forget what has happened in the past. They are different formats, let’s not think that we have not bowled well in ODIs. Tests are different and you need to have a different approach,” Sachin Tendulkar concluded.
Unfortunately, Ishant Sharma is injured and not a part of the Indian Test squad for the 4 test series of Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Navdeep Saini or Mohammed Siraj will likely join forces with Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah in the Indian pace attack for the historic pink-ball Test whereas Umesh Yadav is also another option.