Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra feels Team India is missing pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the big final of the World Test Championship (WTC 2021 Final) against New Zealand at The Ageas Bowl Southampton.
Chopra’s statement came after the Indian pace unit consisting of Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma were unable to generate much swing with the Dukes' ball despite favorable conditions, while their New Zealand counterparts troubled the Indian batsmen a lot.
“India is definitely missing Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He has three special aspects as well. Firstly, he does magic with the new ball. Secondly, he bowls the long spells. And the third thing is that he can bat as well. He could have done everything for Team India,” Chopra said in his latest YouTube video.
The cricketer-turned-commentator then talked about Ishant Sharma being the only Indian pacer to get decent swing as compared to Bumrah and Shami who are lagging by a fair margin.
“Swinging conditions can only be utilized if the ball leaves your hand accordingly. We saw Colin de Grandhomme getting a lot of swing, then Southee, Jamieson, and Trent Boult, Ishant Sharma is still somewhere close but the other two are far behind. They don't swing the ball, they are seam bowlers,” Chopra said.
Chopra, who played 10 Tests for India, further explained the difference between seam bowlers and swing bowlers and suggested a couple of swing bowlers that should have been considered for this tour of England.
“Whoever is quicker in the air, he gets slightly lesser swing. A seam bowler is not a swing bowler. To get the swing, you need to tilt the seam slightly and Bhuvneshwar Kumar does that thing very nicely. I would say you could have considered both Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar for this tour of England,” the 43-year-old signed off.
