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The pitches may not have been completely in their favour, but the Indian pacers’ ability to attack vital situations has made a big difference in the Test series against England, feels top-order batsman Shubman Gill. The four spinners, R Ashwin (11), Ravindra Jadeja (12), Kuldeep Yadav (8) and Axar Patel (5), together have taken 36 wickets in three matches, compared to 22 for the pacers so far.
So the numbers might be favoring the modifiers, but Gill said the pacers played well under the conditions to keep his team ahead.
“Wherever we play in India, the wickets help the spinners a little bit. Ash bhai and Jaddu bhai will take wickets anyway, but the way our fast bowlers have bowled, it has made the difference in this series,” Gill said during an interaction with the media before the fourth test, starting on Friday.
However, India will be without Jasprit Bumrah for the Ranchi Test as the leading pacer has been rested as part of workload management.
He has so far taken 17 wickets from three Tests to lead India’s order.
But Gill said the other Indian pacers have enough experience in these conditions to make an impact, citing the example of Mohammed Siraj’s four-wicket haul in Rajkot.
“As I talked about Virat bhai, if a player of Boom bhai’s class doesn’t play, any team will miss him, especially since he leads our fast bowling attack. But if you look at it, Siraj took four wickets at crucial times in the last match.
“I think all the pacers have enough experience in Indian conditions, especially bowling,” Gill said.
Gill said a group of young players have seen the absence of experienced players like Virat Kohli and Bumrah as a perfect opportunity to prove themselves on the biggest stage.
Gill gave as an example Sarfaraz Khan, who made two fifties in his first Test in Rajkot.
“Virat bhai was not with us in the last three Tests, and yes, the absence of a player of his class makes a little difference. But I think Sarfaraz came in and played well. So, I think the players are doing well in the opportunities they are having. The Punjab man also said there was a certain level of desperation among hopefuls to perform because they might lose their place once the regular players return.
“The young players got the opportunity because Virat bhai or Bumrah bhai are not there. So, those young players also know that this opportunity might not stay with them for long, so they are trying to give their best in every opportunity” , he pointed. .
Yashasvi Jaiswal was one of those players who grabbed his opportunity with both hands.
Opening the innings, Jaiswal has so far made 546 runs, including a hundred successive doubles, to top the run-getter chart in this Test.
After the second match in Visakhapatnam, captain Rohit Sharma hoped Jaiswal would remain humble and build on this brilliant start to his career.
However, Gill took a slightly different view and said that while someone like Jaiswal can contribute to the team, attitude should not be a focus.
“I don’t think there is any problem with youngsters not being humble. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored double in consecutive matches. You know, if you don’t have it (talent), then you won’t score consecutively back double hundreds.
“Not many in world cricket have scored two consecutive hundreds. He is definitely a sensational player. We have seen him in eight or nine Tests. I don’t think there was any conscious decision, maybe Rohit bhai didn’t want to talk about it at that time. (without directly praising Jaiswal),” he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated channel.)
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