Salman Butt, the ex-Pakistan captain lauded India for the T20I series against Sri Lanka but pointed out a major flaw in their set-up that could also hurt their chances of lifting the 2022 T20I World Cup in Australia.
Team India may have won the T20I series against Sri Lanka and they may have been ticked a lot of boxes but former Pakistan captain Salman Butt believes that there is still one major area that the side needs to work on if they want to win the upcoming 2022 T20I World Cup in Australia.
Salman Butt: India Need To Groom More Pacers
Salman Butt, while speaking in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel, quipped that while Rohit Sharma’s side boasts of talented medium pacers, they still need more pace in the attack.
“India’s batting is covering up for them till date. India are relying on their batting in T20Is. They need more pace in their bowling attack. No matter how many variations you have as a medium-pacer, you cannot match the impact genuine pace can make on a good T20 wicket.”
“Anything below 135 kmph makes absolutely no impact on a batter. On an exceptionally good day, the medium pacer may cause harm otherwise on good pitches, he is bound to be hit for runs.”
“They need to groom more pacers. Like [Jasprit] Bumrah, [Mohammed] Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, and there was a pacer in IPL, [Umran] Malik. It will be difficult for medium pacers to win you a tournament. Bowlers who can bowl above 140 kmph are more effective,” he elaborated.
Jasprit Bumrah returned to the Indian team as its vice-captain for the T20I and Test series against Sri Lanka. Jasprit Bumrah had been rested in India’s white-ball series against the West Indies. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Harshal Patel, Shardul Thakur, and Deepak Chahar were impressive during the ODI and T20I series against the West Indies.
But Deepak Chahar was ruled out due to injury for Sri Lanka T20Is. Meanwhile, Avesh Khan picked his maiden international wicket in the 3rd T20I against Sri Lanka.
Salman Butt: Sanju Samson Doesn’t Know How To Apply Brakes
Meanwhile, left-handed batter Salman Butt was also critical of Sanju Samson’s knock in the second T20I. Sri Lanka’s Binura Fernando took a sensational catch to dismiss India’s Sanju Samson during the 2nd T20I between the two countries in Dharamsala on Saturday. Sanju Samson was on 39 and going for the big hits when he chased after a Lahiru Kumara delivery in the 13th over, only to give away an outside edge.
“He has got immense talent and hits effortless sixes. But he doesn’t know how to apply brakes. Like Prithvi Shaw, he goes on and on. He hit two sixes in one over yesterday and was going for another already. Catch was outstanding for that, which came off the edge. He had hit almost a similar delivery over extra cover for a six, but that one was farther away from the stumps. So you need to adjust your tempo to extend you knock,” he said.
Sanju Samson scored 18 runs in 12 balls as an opener in the 3rd T20I. He managed 57 runs averaging 28.5 in the 2 innings he played. Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka was once again the saviour with a 74 not out off 38 balls that took his team close to the 150-run mark. Dasun Shanaka hit nine fours and two sixes.
But it was Avesh Khan (4-1-23-2) and Mohammed Siraj (4-0-22-1), who just dismantled the Lankan top-order with pace and bounce, as they were reduced to 11 for 3 in the fourth over and there was no coming back from there.
Shreyas Iyer, whose game against the short ball was once found to be suspect, had a rubber to remember with a hat-trick of half-centuries, an aggregate of 204 runs without being dismissed even once in the 3 innings that fetched him the Player-of-the-Series Award.