India's bowlers should stir the batsmen
With Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma breaking the 150 kmph mark and Zaheer Khan looking like he has regained his best, India's seam attack appears capable of taking 20 Australian wickets
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
With Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma breaking the 150 kmph mark and Zaheer Khan looking like he has regained his best, India's seam attack appears capable of taking 20 Australian wickets. The batsmen have failed to show up though, and could do well to take inspiration from the bowling attack, writes S Ram Mahesh in The Hindu.
Gambhir seemed to feel this burden at the MCG, his anxiety conveyed in his bottom-hand grip. When he's at his best, the hands work in unison, top leading, bottom modulating. In both innings of the first Test, his left hand was taking undue control of most strokes. His footwork, which had so noticeably improved during his return to Test cricket in 2008, was less certain as well.
In DNA, Sumit Chakraberty writes that the Indian fast bowlers may have impressed with speed, but lacked the guidance and support to exploit the conditions at the MCG, unlike their Australian counterparts.
Both bowlers did pitch the ball up more often in the Australian second innings, and therefore had more wickets to show for their efforts. But they were still trying too many things instead of taking the cue from Zaheer Khan and sticking to a line and length to make the percentages work for them. The Australians, from the third day onwards, were pitching four or five balls up every over, whereas it was only two or three balls an over for the Indians. Apart from the inconsistency in length, Umesh and Ishant also kept switching between bowling over the wicket and round the wicket, often letting off the pressure or losing their rhythm in the process.
Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo