BENGALURU: There was a time where opposition teams used to arrive in India prepared for their spinners. On slow, spinning tracks, it was the spinners who did the maximum damage.
But since the first cycle of the World Test Championship, there has been a huge shift in this.
A potent pace attack at this disposal in itself is capable of inflicting damages even before the ball is thrown at the spinners.
It was evident again at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where India wrapped up the second Test against Sri Lanka on Day 3 by 238 runs on Monday.
If all things pointed out to spinners R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel making life difficult for Sri Lanka on a dry surface that turned from Day 1, it was pacer Jasprit Bumrah who walked away with eight wickets — the most in this Test.
These numbers look even more startling when the rest of pacers in the match — India’s Mohammed Shami, Sri Lanka’s Suranga Lakmal and Vishwa Fernando — had a combined tally of four wickets.
The presence of a bowler, who takes conditions out of the equation, is the last thing teams touring to India would want.
With Shami in the mix and three world-class spinners, batters are always up against an attack that is probing them at all times.
To cut short, there is simply no respite. The variety in the Indian pace attack is what makes them formidable home and away as they now have bowlers who can make life difficult for batters with the new ball and the old.
The luxury of it is, India just no longer need to call on their spinners to get the breakthroughs. Right through the Test, whenever Sri Lanka were threatening to build a partnership, Rohit turned to Bumrah.
On Monday, as Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne fought a lone battle against a formidable Indian attack to score his 14th Test century and appeared immovable, it was Bumrah who breached his defence.
After his wicket, India just took three overs to clean up the tail. From his first over of the day till his last, Bumrah asked questions to the Sri Lankan batters via his movement and his well-directed bouncers. Relentless in his attack and patient enough to work over a batter, Bumrah was class personified.
“Bumrah’s performance was magnificent without a doubt. To come out and bowl like that in these kinds of conditions shows how much skill and ability he has. This was a different kind of pitch. It was turning and bouncing and everything was happening for spinners. But Bumrah, the kind of skills he has, coming and hitting the stumps all the time. And if there’s any lateral movement, he’s always in play,” said Rohit.
“Both (Bumrah and Shami) of these guys have been brilliant for India. And whatever conditions you play, they are always in play. They can reverse the ball, they can bounce batsmen out. They have so many variations as well. To have someone like them is always a good thing.”
Bowling aside, with a new-look batting order, India showed they are only growing from strength to strength as Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari vindicated the selectors’ decision to look beyond Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane.
The series win now took India to fifth position in the WTC table and have six more Tests lined up against Bangladesh (two) and Australia (four) for a shot to play the final.
“Honestly we cannot look that far ahead as it does not work like that. We need to look into the present, make sure that there are few steps to climb to reach that place. For us, reaching those small goals are very important,” Rohit said.
Scoreboard
India 1st innings: 252
Sri Lanka 1st innings: 109
India 2nd innings: 303-9 dec
Sri Lanka 2nd innings (O/N 28-1) Karunaratne b Bumrah 107, Mendis st Pant b Ashwin 54, Mathews b Jadeja 1, De Silva c Vihari b Ashwin 4, Dickwella st Pant b Patel 12, Asalanka c Rohit b Axar 5, Embuldeniya lbw Ashwin 2, Lakmal b Bumrah 1, Fernando c Shami b Ashwin 2, Jayawickrama (not out) 0. Extras (b16, lb3, nb1) 20, Total (all out, 59.3 overs) 208.
FOW: 1-0, 2-97, 3-98, 4-105, 5-160, 6-180, 7-204, 8-206, 9-208.
Bowling: Bumrah 9-4-23-3, Shami 6-0-26-0, Ashwin 19.3-3-55-4, Jadeja 14-2-48-1, Axar 11-1-37-2.