England batsman Dawid Malan on Wednesday (September 15) lauded India’s highly potent pace battery, saying each bowler is different from each other which makes it nearly impossible for batters to fully get used to them.
The Indian pacers outperformed their English counterparts in the recently held Test series, which ended prematurely due to COVID-19 scare in the visiting camp. The tourists were leading the series 2-1 after four Tests.
Speaking to PTI, Malan, who made a Test comeback in the series after three years, shared the experience of facing the Indian bowling attack.
According to the southpaw, the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj are different from each other and batsmen struggle to cope when they bowl in tandem.
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"They've all been pretty tough. I think the one thing about this Indian attack is they're all slightly different. They all have different release points and different things they do with the ball, which makes it so challenging you know you can never get used to (them)," Malan said.
"If you think you are getting used to one of them, they just come at you with different challenges all the time so you know it's really tough to pick them. They've all been really, really good this series," he added.
Malan was also happy that he didn’t have to face R Ashwin in the series. Notably, the veteran off-spinner was left out from the playing XI by the Indian team management in all four Tests.
"It's not because he's not a great bowler, he is a serious bowler. He is one of the best spinners that's ever played the game, but you know, it's hard for me to comment on why he wouldn't be playing," he said when asked if he was surprised about Ashwin missing all the four Tests.
"...If you look at the conditions and if you were playing two spinners he would probably be tougher (Ravindra Jadeja). I guess the captain, or the leadership of the Indian team probably had the decision to make between Jadeja or Ashwin and they went the other way.
"They led 2-1 so you know you can't really argue (with that decision). I'm quite happy as a left hander that he did not play, which is pretty good," he further remarked.
Dawid Malan featured in two Tests and registered scores of 70, 31 and 5. His half-century at Headingley came in England’s innings and 76-run victory.
Reflecting on his Test comeback, the left-hander said: "Yes and no. You know, to get a score in that first Test was good.. disappointed not to (have) capitalised on that one to score a hundred. It was a really good batting wicket so to get out the way I did this was obviously disappointing."
"And then the first innings at The Oval. To get to 30 once again on a wicket that was playing well and to get out was tough, was disappointing from my point of view. You know I've come in, I feel like I've hit the ball well I've moved well," he added.
(With PTI inputs)
