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Reflecting on India's four-wicket defeat against Australia in the second T20I in Melbourne, former player and 2007 World Cup-winner Robin Uthappa suggested that the Men in Blue could have been far more competitive if their fast bowlers had managed to secure a few wickets with the new ball.
Robin Uthappa’s sharp take on Jasprit Bumrah after India's MCG defeat
The match, played on Friday, October 31, saw Suryakumar Yadav's side bowled out for a meager 125 after being asked to bat first. Australia went on to comfortably achieve the target with a huge margin of 40 deliveries to spare.During a post-match discussion on Star Sports, where Uthappa was asked for his assessment of India's loss, he offered a specific critique regarding the bowling attack. Uthappa pointed out a tendency in India's premier pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, noting that the star bowler becomes slightly wayward whenever he is desperate for wickets.
"When we were bowling after scoring 125, the start was very important. If we had picked up two or three wickets in the first three or four overs, the game could have been closer because we have quality spinners in the middle overs. I felt we were probably trying too hard to pick up wickets. So we got a little wayward," Uthappa said.
"I have observed that whenever Bumrah gets desperate to pick up wickets, he becomes slightly wayward, and when he is disciplined and hits a good line and length, he mostly picks up wickets. Australia took full advantage of that waywardness at the start, the way we started with the ball in the second innings," he added.
Bumrah's new-ball spell came under scrutiny following India's loss. While his final figures read 2 wickets for 26 runs in four overs, he was notably expensive and wicketless in his initial three overs with the new ball, conceding 23 runs. This period included a wayward delivery far down the leg side that resulted in five wides, reflecting the lack of control Robin Uthappa had mentioned.
Uthappa disappointed with India's batting
In the same discussion, Uthappa described India's overall batting display as disappointing, attributing the failure partly to an overly aggressive approach. Uthappa highlighted that after the disastrous powerplay, Abhishek Sharma was forced into the role of managing the entire innings, with Harshit Rana being the only player to provide meaningful support. Uthappa observed that although the 56-run partnership between Abhishek and Harshit offered a crucial reprieve, coming after India had been reduced to 49/5 after 7.3 overs, the lack of contribution from every other batter meant the team could not reach a more competitive total of at least 150. He added that this young team must take valuable lessons from the defeat, especially the need to adjust their game plans to counter the slight extra bounce prevalent in Australian conditions. Following the brief resistance, the visitors lost their last five wickets for just 20 runs, cementing their below-par score.
"Slightly disappointing, because you had obviously lost the toss, but the batters could have given themselves a little time. They chose the aggressive batting option and they lost too many wickets in the first six overs because of that," he concluded.
The third and final T20I between India and Australia will be played on November 2 in Hobart.
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