Cheteshwar Pujara Highlights Weakness In India's Bowling Ahead Of Boxing Day Test
The Indian cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara reflected on his views on India's bowling lineup in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He stated the weaknesses of Indian bowlers and what they can do to cope with that problem. Currently the series is tied at 1-1 after the third Test got drawn between India and Australia due to bad weather and lightning in Brisbane. India won the first Test in Perth by a big margin of 295 runs while Australia won the second by 10 wickets in Adelaide.
In the last three Tests concluded in Australia, Jasprit Bumrah was the lone bowler who managed to take wickets and helped India. He took two fifers and one four-wicket haul in the series. In the current series, he is the highest wicket-taker with 21 wickets at an average of 10.90.
In a recent interview, Pujara stated that the Indian bowling attack is a bit weak in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
"My biggest question and the reason for a little bit of concern is that the Indian bowling is looking a little weak. Batting is a little better, like the top five didn't do well, but the middle order and lower middle order, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitesh, and even tailenders, Bumrah and Akash Deep, contributed with the bat."
Further, he said that there are three seamers who are good, but what about their supporting role? They are not getting the proper support that they need at the current situation.
"Now there is a weakness in the bowling, so what will you feed the team? That is the biggest question, because you can't drop Nitish, and you can't drop Jadeja, so what will be the team combination? Ashwin has taken retirement, so two spinners, I don't think they will play in Melbourne. So, how will you strengthen the bowling? Because the three seamers are very good, but their supporting roles, the fourth and fifth seamers, are Nitish Kumar as the fourth seamer and Ravindra Jadeja as the fifth bowler."
Pujara also stated that if India has to win a Test match, they need to take 20 wickets, but at the moment they don't have the ability to take this many wickets. If they need to, they need to work on their bowling action.
"If you add both of them together, the bowling is not that good. We will have to think about that, because if you want to win a test match, then you have to take 20 wickets, and the ability to take 20 wickets is not that good; the supporting role of the other bowlers is not good, so we will have to improve that as soon as possible, and how that will be, I don't know, but that is a big question."
The Boxing Day Test will kick off on December 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).