The Indian cricket team will be facing Australia in the fourth test match which will be played at Melbourne Cricket Ground starting from 26 December and Rohit Sharma-led team has no option other than winning the remaining two matches if they want to keep their chances of playing the WTC final alive.
As of now, the series is levelled at 1-1 and recently, the senior Indian cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara raised concerns about India’s unsettled bowling lineup and their struggle to consistently take 20 wickets ahead of the Boxing Day Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
While India managed to secure a convincing win in the first Test in Perth by taking all the 20 wickets, they failed to replicate this in Adelaide and Brisbane, resulting in a 10-wicket loss and a draw.
Cheteshwar Pujara acknowledged the team’s weakness in this area but emphasised that the real problem is the lack of a clear solution. He explained that dropping all-rounders Nitish Kumar Reddy and Ravindra Jadeja for a specialist bowler isn’t a viable option, as it would further weaken an already fragile batting lineup.
While speaking on the show, he said, “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, Nitish (Reddy), and even tailenders, Bumrah and Akash Deep contributed with the bat. 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, you can’t drop Jadeja, so what will be the team combination?”
He further added, “[Ravichandran] 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 role, fourth and fifth seamer, Nitesh Kumar is the fourth seamer and Ravindra Jadeja is the fifth bowler. If you add both of them together, the bowling is not that good.”
Nitish Kumar Reddy, batting as India’s last recognised batter, impressed in his debut series with 179 runs at an average of 44.75. Jadeja was one of only two Indians to score a half-century during a batting collapse at the Gabba. However, the duo’s combined bowling performance was underwhelming, managing just one wicket in the match.
Pujara also said, “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.”
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