Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa was critical of the side's bowling effort during the second T20I of the five-match series against Australia. He remarked that despite India's poor performance with the bat, the match could have gone closer if the bowlers did their job properly. He also pointed out that the Aussies could have been under massive pressure if they lost 2-3 early wickets, but the duo of Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head instead ended up forming a solid 51-run opening stand.
“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 for the middle overs. I felt we were probably trying too hard to pick up wickets, and that made us a little wayward," Uthappa said on Star Sports.
Uthappa on Bumrah's bowling effort
Uthappa also made a stunning observation about Jasprit Bumrah, pointing out that the latter isn't able to bowl at his best when he is desperate to pick up wickets, bt gets rewarded when he stays in discipline and sticks to a good line. He further stated that Australia took full advantage of India's "wayward" bowling at the start of the innings and put the game to bed through a strong batting effort.
“I have observed that whenever Bumrah gets desperate to pick up wickets, he becomes slightly wayward. But when he stays disciplined and sticks to a good line and length, he usually gets rewarded. Australia took full advantage of that waywardness at the start, the way we began with the ball in the second innings," Uthappa stated.
Though Bumrah did bowl a tidy 4-over spell of 2/26 against Australia, he was only able to pick up wickets when the hosts only needed a handful of runs more to win. He took the wickets of Mitchell Owen and Matt Short on consecutive deliveries, but it was too little too late for the Men in Blue as the Aussies chased down the 126-run target comfortably with 40 deliveries left to spare and won the match by four wickets.
India eye victory in 3rd T20I
Australia have now taken a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series. India will be looking to bounce back from this defeat in the third ODI that will take place at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart on November 2.