He also heaped praise on Navdeep Saini who may make his debut as well.
Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has hailed the incredible depth in India's fast bowling department after their brilliant display against Australia in the ongoing Test series even without experienced pacers Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami.
Team India headed into the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy without their most experienced fast bowler Ishant and then suffered a huge blow with Shami suffered a fracture in the first Test in Adelaide and ruled out of the Test series in Australia.
Well, the debutant right-arm fast bowler Mohammed Siraj replaced Shami in the India XI and managed to impress all with his performance, taking 2 wickets in Australia’s first innings in the ongoing Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
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In the ongoing second Test, Indian bowlers produced a terrific show as the tourists bundled out Australia for 195 in their first innings with Jasprit Bumrah and R Ashwin finishing with 4 and 3 wickets respectively. Ashwin and Bumrah were very well supported by Siraj in the first innings.
Following the impressive show by Indian bowlers, Gavaskar hailed the incredible depth in India's fast bowling department, saying the amount of talent coming through is mind-boggling.
Gavaskar told 7 Cricket: “The bench strength for fast bowling is unbelievable. It may not be the same as far as spinners are concerned but when you look at the amount of talent available in the fast bowling department, it’s just mind-boggling.”
Praising Navdeep Saini, the former Indian captain said he is next in line after Siraj to make his Test debut.
He further added, “We’ve got Navdeep Saini who’s pretty quick, bowls around 145 regularly. He’s not playing (in Boxing Day Test) as he did not have god warm-up games, maybe that’s the reason why Siraj got the nod ahead of him. But he’s there, there’s Umesh Yadav, and there are lots of other young fast bowlers who are knocking on the doors.”
Gavaskar credited the coaches and players for their hard work when he was asked the secret behind India managing to produce fine fast bowling talents nowadays.
He signed off by saying, “I think it’s all the gym work that they do. The upper body strength is good, they are now guided by professionals and that makes a big difference. Today’s generation is willing to work and they pride themselves on their looks.”