Legendary former India batsman Sunil Gavaskar termed India’s fast bowling pool as ‘unbelievable’ and ‘mindboggling’ after the team bowled out Australia for a paltry total of 195 runs on Day 1 of the second Test at MCG.
India’s pace spearhead, Jasprit Bumrah, was the pick of the bowlers with a four-wicket haul to his name and he was well supported by debutant Mohammad Siraj as well, who picked up the Important wickets of Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green.
Gavaskar was astonished to see how well the pace battery is doing even in the absence of the premier fast bowlers like Mohammad Shami and Ishant Sharma.
“The bench strength for fast bowling is unbelievable. It may not be the same as far as spinners are concerned but when you look at the amount of talent available in the fast bowling department, it’s just mind-boggling,” Gavaskar told 7 Cricket.
He also heaped praise on Navdeep Saini and opined that he will make his Test debut next after Siraj.
“We’ve got Navdeep Saini who’s pretty quick, bowls around 145 regularly. He’s not playing (in Boxing Day Test) as he did not have god warm-up games, maybe that’s the reason why Siraj got the nod ahead of him. But he’s there, there’s Umesh Yadav, and there are lots of other young fast bowlers who are knocking on the doors,” Gavaskar added.
Gavaskar was also asked about what could be the reason behind such improvement of the Indian pacers over the years and the legend attributed it to the hard work they do in the gym.
“I think it’s all the gym work that they do. The upper body strength is good, they are now guided by professionals and that makes a big difference. Today’s generation is willing to work and they pride themselves on their looks,” he added.
The Indian batsmen have supported the efforts of the bowlers well as they took an 82-run lead over Australia by the end of Day 2, with skipper Ajinkya Rahane remaining unbeaten on 104 and Ravindra Jadeja on 40. India will resume Day 3 on an overnight score of 277/5.
