India Missing Batsmen Who Can Bowl, Says S Badrinath

Following India’s terrible performance with the ball in the first two ODIs against Australia, former batsman S Badrinath has highlighted the importance of having part-time bowlers in the playing eleven. India were thoroughly outplayed in both the games as Australia sealed the series with a match remaining.

In the first ODI, the Men in Blue conceded a mammoth total of 374 runs. In reply, India ended their innings on 308 for 8 in the allotted 50 overs, losing the game by 66 runs. In the do-or-die second game, the bowling performance was even worse as the Virat Kohli-led side conceded 389 before scoring 338.

India’s frontline bowlers have performed terribly in the first two games with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal and all others failing to deliver. Another factor behind the poor display was the lack of bowling option. Despite seeing his main bowlers going for runs, skipper Virat Kohli had no option but to stick with them.

And as India’s struggles with the ball continued, S Badrinath pointed out how India had the luxury of part-time bowlers in the past. He recalled how the likes of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly used to contribute with the ball.

“No one from the top 5 or top 6 is bowling now. If you look at the Indian teams in the past, top-order batsmen managed to bowl a bit. Sehwag used to bowl, Sachin used to bowl, even Ganguly used to bowl,” S Badrinath told Star Sports Tamil.

“They used to give the captain 3-4 overs. You can manage 10 overs with them. When a bowler had a bad day, they didn’t have the necessity to give him 10 overs. India is missing that now.

“Even if Rohit Sharma returns… he is not bowling these days. At the same time, look at Australia, they have someone like Marcus Stoinis… He can bowl 5-6 overs easily. Maxwell can bowl. You need this aspect in limited-overs cricket. I think India are struggling a bit in this aspect,” he added.

In the second ODI, Virat Kohli asked opener Mayank Agarwal to roll  his arm over for an over and allrounder Hardik Pandya bowled four overs too. While Pandya did well, Agarwal could not make much of an impression.

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