Team India enjoyed the No. 1 ranking in Test cricket for close to four years and the main reason behind their success was the performance of the fast bowling unit.
The pace attack, featuring Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav, did a fantastic job in both home and away conditions.
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The addition of young guns like Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur has made the attack even more potent.
Ahead of the five-Test series between India and England, South Africa legend Dale Steyn weighed in over the Indian team’s pace battery.
“I like what they have got right now. All those bowlers bring something different to the party. My advice is to stay fit. Five Test matches - that requires a lot of bowling. It's a lot of wickets to take, and if you're going to rely on your seamers to do a lot of bowling, you have to stay fit,” Steyn wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo.
He further explained how every Indian pacer brings something different to the table.
“I like Shardul Thakur. He does swing the ball beautifully, and when he learns how to get the ball that stays straight on batters, that's when he might find a lot more edges. He's another guy like Tim Southee that can swing it beautifully, but he needs to learn how to bowl that kind of scrambled ball that just holds the line and he can find the edges.”
Commenting on Siraj, who played a key role in India’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy triumph earlier this year, Steyn said: “Mohammed Siraj is somebody who could come in. I think he brings a good attitude to the game. That's another thing we tend to forget when you're playing in England conditions. It's not just about where you put the ball but also the attitude you bring, getting in people's faces, making them play shots they don't particularly want to play - I think Siraj is somebody who can do that.”
“I saw parts of that little bit of fight when he played in Australia and I immediately knew he's going to have a good Test career. Don't forget about the attitude of a fast bowler too. Maybe that's something India would have really relished in the World Test Championship final, but it would have come with the sacrifice of some more runs.”
Dale Steyn also praised the skills of Umesh and Shami, who have 148 wickets and 184 scalps to their names in the longest format of the game, respectively.
“Umesh Yadav - quick through the air, swings it beautifully. And then you can decide whether it's Umesh or Mohammad Shami you pick. For me, they do a similar kind of thing - similar heights, both swing the ball. It just boils down to who's bowling better in the nets, who's higher in confidence, in the better mental space.”
According to Steyn, veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin might also play a pivotal role for India in the Test series against England, starting August 4 in Nottingham.
Notably, Ashwin featured in a First-Class match for Surrey against Somerset earlier this month. He looked in a good rhythm in the four-day fixture, claiming seven wickets including a six-wicket haul in Somerset’s second innings.
“Maybe it's out-of-the-box thinking here from me, but I think we're putting a lot of emphasis on the seamers when someone like R Ashwin might be the biggest key for India. As these five Test matches go on, I think spin will be the difference. Ashwin is the kind of bowler that bowls tons and tons of overs. Teams like England and Australia, who are so good at playing seamers and seamer-friendly conditions, don't tend to play spin particularly well. So Ashwin might be the biggest trump card that India have going forward,” Steyn opined.
(Inputs from ESPNcricinfo)
