Team India has kickstarted their 2022 T20 World Cup campaign on a high with a thrilling win over Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground. Rohit Sharma and Co. have set the tempo by beating their arch-rivals by four wickets on Sunday. However, the Men in Blue are still under immense pressure to overcome the ghosts of the last year’s mega event where they failed to qualify for the semifinals. They failed to produce collective performances against teams like Pakistan and New Zealand, hurting their campaign in the UAE.
However, things changed a year later as India have changed their approach towards their game under new management. There are major changes in the bowling line-up compared to the last season. While the injuries of Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja put automatic pressure on other bowlers to pull up their socks for the mega event in Australian conditions.
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India lacked genuine pacers in their squad for the Australian conditions as Mohammed Shami (Replacement for Bumrah) is the only one in the line-up who has the ability to clock 140kph at regular intervals
In an exclusive conversation with News18 CricketNext, former Australia head coach John Buchanan gave his take on the Indian bowling attack for the T20 World Cup as he suggested that Bhuvneshwar Kumar can turn out to be a surprise factor for the Men in Blue in Australian conditions.
“Yeah, look it’s always a hard one. The Indian attack is probably in relation to its batting group certainly not as strong. But I think Bhuvneshwar Kumar could surprise a little bit because in Australia he should be able to get the ball to swing, in those first couple of hours, which may mean he’s a dangerous option and may pick up a or two. The other bowlers are still relatively inexperienced in Australian conditions so that can be a good thing. Sometimes you’re not afraid of what’s in front of you, you just go out and play," Buchanan told News18 CricketNext at the sidelines of Legends League Cricket.
Bhuvneshwar has been a mainstay in India’s T20I set-up for the past many years and his ability to take wickets with the new ball is second to none but when it comes to bowling in death overs, the 32-year-old has struggled a bit in the recent times.
He was the leading wicket-taker in Asia Cup 2022 courtesy of his new-ball heroics however, his economy rate spiked up while bowling in the crucial slog overs.
The 69-year-old was critical of India’s spin attack and said they don’t have variety when it comes to the wrist-spinner and gave an example of Adil Rashid and how he makes a difference in the English bowling line-up.
“And, the spin attack Ashwin, Axar Patel and Chahal that’s where I’ve got a question mark on Indian bowling I’d just like to see a little bit more variety in there if they could have found. A good wrist spinner, I’m not saying Chahal is not, but somebody a bit more like Adil Rashid from England, that provides a little bit of difference into that attack," Buchanan added.
Chahal missed the trip to the last World Cup in the UAE but he bounced back with an impressive show in IPL 2022 where he bagged the Purple Cap. However, looking at his numbers in recent matches, he has not been able to create a major impact. He has claimed 11 wickets in the last 10 T20I outings for India.
The Australian conditions are expected to offer pace and bounce to the pacers, however, Buchanan feels that the batters will have the upper hand in T20 World Cup. He predicted that many high-scoring matches will be witnessed in the mega ICC event.
“I think the key is no matter whether you got pace, variation, spin, or just a lot of spin. It’s just your ability to meet that moment at the time. Because in Australian conditions batsman in the main will always be on top. So in the main, it will be generally high-scoring games. So from a bowling perspective, the best you can do is make sure that you land the ball where you all the time. It doesn’t mean you’re going to get success, but it’s those pilots who can do that under Australian conditions," he said.
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