BENGALURU: India pacers have put on a good show in the ongoing Test series against England. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj have been quite relentless with the red cherry. When other bowlers have got a chance, they delivered too. Take for instance Umesh Yadav, who took six wickets in the last game at Oval or for that matter Shardul Thaukr has also taken some important wickets.
It is this depth in quality, which has made India look even more formidable in the series. Be it their good use of bouncers or their control and accuracy, the pacers, with great variety in their attack, have troubled the opposition at will. England pacer Mark Wood has been impressed with India’s attack and even more so with Bumrah, who has scalped 18 wickets in this series.
“I respect this India pace attack immensely, It is highly skilled. They have got pace. They are all slightly different with different angles, actions. It still flabbergasts me that with five steps, Bumrah can bowl at 90 miles an hour. It is not great to face as a batsman, but as an opposition player, you can give them huge respect. Shami, I have been immensely impressed - his skill level, his accuracy. It has been tough for batsmen on both sides,” Wood said in a virtual interaction.
The Indian pace battery stepped up a gear or so when the need arose on the fifth and final day of the fourth Test match on Monday. In a pitch, which was batting friendly, the Indian pacers made the ball talk, with their effective reverse swing. Bumrah was one of the biggest exponents, with some brilliant control, testing the Englishmen.
“I thought the way Indian bowled reverse swing was top draw and obviously Bumrah in particular. That spell he bowled was outstanding. And as a fellow fast bowler, to watch that, you have to give him huge respect,” said Wood. “When we bowled, we may have missed a trick there, we did not get the ball to try and reverse swing. We tried to keep the normal swing when we were not getting much movement. Maybe that (reverse swing) is something, which we could have thought of earlier. That is something we have discussed as a group……The way India got that reverse swing, it is something that we are definitely going to have to think about for this game (fifth Test).” With India leading the five-match Test series 2-1, one can expect England to come back hard.
Fifth Test LIVE on SONY SIX & SONY TEN 4 channels from Friday onwards