Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir assessed the Indian team’s bowling performance in the 2nd T20 game against South Africa on Tuesday. The Men in Blue bowlers struggled in the overseas condition failing to defend the total in the rain-shortened game.
The Indian team lacked variation and control while bowling in adverse conditions. Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh and right-arm pacer Mukesh Kumar were taken to the cleaner by South African opener Reeza Hendricks, yielding 15.50 and 11.33 runs per over, respectively, and will have a day to recover for the final T20 game of the series.
Gautam Gambhir expressed disappointment with Arshdeep Singh’s bowling performance while backing Mohammed Siraj’s bowling on India’s bowling analysis in the 2nd T20 Internationals and hailed Mukesh Kumar for his wicket-taking skills which outweighs that of Arshdeep, who has been inconsistent over the last year.
“I feel that Mohammed Siraj will bowl much worse than this and yet finish with better figures. I was a bit disappointed with Arshdeep because after he bowled the first over, the Powerplay was over and the ball got wet and tough to get a grip of”.
“The 13th over which Mukesh bowled was spectacular, with pin-point yorkers with a wet ball and against a bowler like David Miller. These are some big positives, and going forward, if the conditions aren’t so wet, this bowling line-up will appear a lot different,” Gautam Gambhir said.
Arshdeep Singh and Mukesh Kumar are the bowlers the management expects to deliver powerful efforts in the absence of elders like Jasprit Bumrah. During the third and final encounter against South Africa here on Thursday, the Indian team management hopes to discover an ideal combination for next year’s T20 World Cup.
These Things Need To Be More Carefully Monitored Than Results – Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir believes it is important for India to go beyond the outcomes of bilateral series and identify a set of bowlers who can be effective in death overs. Given Jasprit Bumrah’s assured presence in the playing 11, the competition will be between Siraj, Arshdeep, and the likes of Deepak Chahar and Mukesh to secure a spot in the XI.
“A bilateral series 6-7 months before the World Cup doesn’t carry much relevance. India would want to test their bowlers. You’d want to see how strong your death-overs bowling is. Who can be the one more option with Jasprit Bumrah when the T20 World Cup comes? These things need to be more carefully monitored than results,” Gautam Gambhir added.
Despite a tough start to the South Africa tour, India’s T20I side displayed enticing young talent. With the T20 World Cup 2024 rapidly approaching, all eyes are on the emerging players who have the potential to make a significant impact on the global stage and IPL could play an important part in the team selection for the marquee event.
