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India vs Australia | Absence of sixth bowler, the hurting point of Virat Kohli's side

India vs Australia | Absence of sixth bowler, the hurting point of Virat Kohli's side. India were beaten by 66 runs by Australia in the first ODI at Sydney.

Absence of sixth bowler is hurting India

Bengaluru, November 28: Australia is an unforgiving place to tour for a cricket team. A hard-nosed outfit ready to stretch any length for victory and vast grounds can expose your fragility quite mercilessly and it is no real surprise that visitors have modest success rate Down Under.

On Friday (November 27), Australia exposed a chink in India's armour in front of the world - lack of a sixth bowler. Mohammed Shami was India's best bowler on view - 10-0-59-3 but the other four faltered. Their analysis read: Jasprit Bumrah (1/73), Navdeep Saini (1/83), Yuzvendra Chahal (1/89), most runs conceded by an Indian spinner in ODIs, and Ravindra Jadeja (0/63).

With Hardik Pandya not bowling these days, Virat Kohli had no one to turn for a relief. In fact, Kohli would have been in far greater trouble had a struggling Chahal left the field a couple of overs earlier. Perhaps, he would have had to brought on himself to bowl a couple of overs.

It is going to be a problem for India the whole of this Australian summer, except, perhaps, in Tests where they have the option of Hanuma Vihari. Since Vihari does not figure in the white-ball scheme of things as of now, India do not have a batsman who can bowl in those formats. In contrast, Australia can turn to Glenn Maxwell for those cushion overs or for that matter even Steve Smith.

A few years ago, India too were blessed with batsmen who could have slipped in a few overs - Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and more recently Kedar Jadhav. But in the recent years, batsmen have become more unilateral and the best example of it is Rohit Sharma.

Rohit used to turn in for a couple of overs in the initial part of his career but he does not bowl anymore as it increases the chances of him getting injured. Now, the Indian top-order is bristling with Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer etc for whom bowling is what gangsta rap to a vicar.

Not very far back in the past, we had seen a Tendulkar or a Sehwag bowling at nets after their batting stint and Harsha Bhogle said as much in the post-match show of the host broadcaster. "A Sehwag or a Tendulkar got better at it while bowling at nets." But they have been replaced by throwdown experts, of whom Kohli is a great fan.

While sidearm throws can help batsmen help cope with pace and bounce, so is the theory, it has pushed batsmen into a comfort zone, they don't need to worry about developing an additional skill.

It is not that India did not try to find a batsman who can bowl. They tried the likes of Vijay Shankar, Shivam Dube, Krunal Pandya, Axar Patel in recent times but none managed to cement their place in the ODI side. If anyone of them were available on Friday, at least in theory, he could have come in for someone like Shreyas or Hardik.

The situation does not look any rosy, as it is not clear when Hardik can return to bowl as he is correcting his bowling action to reduce the workload.

During the post-match press conference, Hardik said: "We will have to find someone who has already played for India and groom them and find a way to make them play. It is always going to be difficult when you go with five bowlers, because if somebody is having an off day, you won't have someone to fulfil. ...More than injury, it is about the sixth bowler's role. If someone is having a bad day, so the other guys get more cushion," he said.

"I am working on my bowling. I am going to come in when the time is right," said Pandya.

From a personal perspective, Hardik can wait but India can't afford to wait for that right time especially when the year of World T20 is closer. Perhaps, India need to intensify their search in domestic cricket for a batsman who can bowl.

The remedy needs to be found quick.

Story first published: Saturday, November 28, 2020, 16:50 [IST]
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