Ahead of the four-match Test series against Australia, former skipper Kapil Dev has advised the highly-rated Indian pace attack to bowl to their strengths and not get carried away with the bouncy wickets Down Under.
Despite Ishant Sharma’s absence, the pace battery comprising Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini can push the Aussie batsmen on the backfoot.
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“Our fast bowlers are not that used to bowling on Australian pitches. Sometimes they may get carried away when they see a little bit of bounce and start bowling short. It’s very important to understand their pace and back their strengths,” Kapil said during a virtual session hosted by the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata.
“We may have a very good pace bowling attack at this stage, but they (Australians) know the conditions better than our fast bowlers,” he added.
The battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy begins with the Day-Night Test at the Adelaide Oval on December 17.
According to Kapil, Australia will have the edge in the series opener as the visitors lack experience against pink ball under lights.
Team India have played just one Day-Night Test so far against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens last year. On the other hand, the home team have the experience of playing five Tests with the pink ball and they have won each one of them.
“Definitely Australia have the edge. They are playing in their backyard. If India were playing a pink ball Test in India, I would say 80 per cent our chances. But Australia have played so many (pink ball) Tests and they understand the conditions better under the floodlights.”
Kapil Dev picked his India debut in 1978 as the biggest moment of his career, ahead of the country’s 1983 World Cup triumph under his leadership.
“The biggest ever moment happened for myself was the day I played for India. I would call it 1000 times bigger than winning the World Cup because representing your country was always a dream. I still cherish the moment and feel so proud,” he concluded.
(With PTI inputs)
