Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has said that Anshul Kamboj was bowling way faster in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 than he is currently in the fourth Test against England in Manchester. Ashwin questioned his Chennai Super Kings (CSK) teammate's fitness as India are behind not just in the game, but the series as well.
Kamboj had a tough start to his career on the second day of the Test, but ended on a high with his maiden wicket, dismissing well-set Ben Duckett.
Kamboj had a huge role to play, as the pacer duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj were far from their best. But he ended the day with gloomy figures of 1/89 off his 18 overs.
Kamboj even struggled with the second new ball. It made Ashwin raise questions about the pacer’s speed as most of his deliveries were clocked in 120’s.
“I praised Anshul Kamboj yesterday, but I have to say that his bowling speeds were so low, I was quite surprised. I honestly hope he is okay, because he was bowling faster than this in the IPL," Ashwin said while speaking on his YouTube channel.
“He looked like he was struggling a touch. All said and done, the only solution to this (Bowling injuries and inefficiency) is to be able to create a bigger pool of bowlers," Ashwin added.
Kamboj, who was a part of the India A team before the five-Test series started, was called in as a cover after pacers Arshdeep Singh and Akash Deep were sidelined from the Manchester Test because of their respective injuries.
The choice for the third pacer was between Prasidh Krishna and Kamboj, who joined the team after Arshdeep picked up a hand injury while training in Beckenham last week.
England in driver's seat
England ended Day 3 on 544/7 after 135 overs, maintaining an impressive run rate of 4.02. They now command a 186-run lead, putting themselves in a strong position heading into Day 4.
England batters cashed in against a struggling Indian bowling unit, which was further helped by batter-friendly conditions.