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Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has criticised India's bowling attack for their poor performance in their 10-wicket defeat to Australia in the second Test. He believes that India's bowling attack is overly reliant on Jasprit Bumrah.
Manjrekar pointed out that Mohammed Siraj failed to provide adequate support to Bumrah, while the other seam bowlers, Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy, struggled to make an impact. Rana, in particular, was ineffective, conceding 86 runs in 16 wicketless overs.
Sanjay Manjrekar terms India's bowling in Adelaide Test 'average'
Manjrekar rather was impressed with how Australia's openers, Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne, seized the initiative after Bumrah's departure. Travis Head's blistering century further exposed India's bowling weaknesses.
"The Indian bowling attack suddenly looked average. There was Bumrah, a bit of Siraj and Harshit Rana realised that every day is not going to be like the Perth Test match. Credit to young Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne who grafted the innings. But there was not relentless quality bowling at those guys and that's why maybe India wasn't able to cash in," Manjrekar told Cricinfo.
Sanjay Manjrekar also said that Mohammed Siraj's bowling abilities are not comparable to those of Mohammed Shami, who possesses the skill to generate swing.
"In Adelaide, in both innings, there was more of a reality check for the No.3 and No.4 of what they have to face in foreign conditions when the bowlers are holding their swing. There is of course a lack of experience with the kind of bowling attack that India have. There is Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj has been there before but he is not quite Mohammed Shami. Just put Shami in that equation in that evening session (Day 1 Adelaide) and the story would have been different," he concluded.
Meanwhile amidst reports of Mohammed Shami joining Team India squad for the last two matches of Border-Gavaskar Trophy, skipper Rohit Sharma said that the pace maestro, who is playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024, is being monitored.
"We are just monitoring him because while playing Syed Mushtaq Ali, he got some swelling in his knee, which hampers his preparation to come and play a Test match. We want to be very careful, we don't want to bring him here, he pulls up sore or something happens," Rohit said after India's 10-wicket defeat against Australia.
