Australia vs India 2018-19: Jasprit Bumrah-Less Indian Attack Inexperienced And Weak - Sourav Ganguly

Former Indian National Cricket team skipper Sourav Ganguly feels India pace attack without Jasprit Bumrah seems weak and inexperienced in the ongoing ODI series against Australia. Meanwhile, India went down in the first ODI by 34 runs at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Jasprit Bumrah was originally a part of the ODI squad; however, the management decided to rest him keeping his workload in mind. Bumrah returned as the highest wicket-taker with 21 wickets along with Nathan Lyon. Although the management drafted Mohammad Siraj in the squad, Sourav Ganguly feels the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and the lack of match practice of Bhuvneshwar Kumar can hurt the team.

“Without Bumrah the bowling does become weak. Bumrah had a different effect in the Test series. Shami is there, who I feel is a good bowler…this is however, a new bowling attack in ODIs. Khaleel [Ahmed] is not that experienced. The bowler from Hyderabad [Mohammed Siraj] has been given a chance. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is there…so the attack is little weak.

“Also Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be playing ODI or any form of cricket after a while because he didn’t get to play the four-Test series. So, he will be a little rusty to begin with. So, this could be an area of concern for India in Australia on good tracks,” Ganguly said in IndiaTV’s show Cricket Ki Baat.

Indian spinners will decide the fate of the series

In addition to, Sourav Ganguly believes that Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal will decide the fate of the series. Kuldeep fared well in England as Ganguly believes Kuldeep can be a match-winner.

“Sydney is a flat track, so there will be pressure. [Ravindra] Jadeja is there as a spinner. Kuldeep and Chahal are there, so the spin attack is good and like England, we said that they will only win the series if they play the spinners well. In Nottingham, Kuldeep took five wickets, and India won the game, but after that, they played him differently.

“So, the way the will play Kuldeep and Chahal, will decide who takes the match. So, I believe the fast bowling department is a little inexperienced and weak, and the Bumrah effect is not there that creates a lot of difference,” Ganguly concluded.

India squad: Virat Kohli(C), Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul*, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya*, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, K Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Shami