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Sourav Ganguly has advocated for sports camps instead of grooming top-level players.©AFP
Jasprit Bumrah’s pulsating afternoon spell on the second day of the second Test against England in Vizag on Saturday had former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly advocating for sports grounds instead of grooming rank players. Bumrah hit Ollie Pope’s stumps with a laser-guided yorker to dismiss the England batsman for 23 off 55 balls, earning him a completely separate fan base. It was not entirely surprising then to see Ganguly, a lifelong supporter of pace bowling and track sports, expressing his views in favor of decks that keep bowlers of all genders in the game, rather than just the spinners.
“When I watch Bumrah, Shami, Siraj and Mukesh play, I wonder why we need to prepare turning tracks in India… my conviction of playing on good wickets is getting stronger with every match. They will get 20 wickets on any surface with Ashwin. Jadeja, Kuldeep and Axar (for support),” Ganguly wrote on his X account (formerly Twitter).
The former BCCI chief had also expressed a similar opinion during India’s home series against Australia early last year, particularly after the Indore pitch got a ‘poor’ rating from the ICC.
“It’s great to see Ashwin play so well on a good pitch…class will always show…Hopefully this will be a good test match…a good chance for the Indian batsmen after some tuff wickets to bat, in this series,” Ganguly had tweeted. during the Ahmedabad Test after senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bagged six wickets.
Here too, Ganguly hinted that the overall quality of batting in the longer format has gone down in recent years due to preparation of pitches with quick results in mind.
“The quality of batting has gone down due to pitching in the last 6-7 years at home… good wickets are a must… India will still win in 5 days,” Ganguly said.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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