In the last three overseas Tests, in Johannesburg and Cape Town vs South Africa and Edgbaston vs England, the Indian bowling lineup has taken a combined tally of only nine wickets in the fourth innings. This lineup includes Bumrah, Shami, Siraj, Umesh Yadav (in Cape Town) and Shardul Thakur, that many reckon is the “best-ever” seam bowling lineup India have had.
The bowlers have not bowled with any sort of intensity or accuracy to make the teams sweat while trying to defend totals of 240, 212 and 378. In all three instances, the rival teams have notched up seven-wicket victories. Does it merit a debate on whether this is indeed the best attack?
India head coach Rahul Dravid admitted that bowling out teams in the fourth innings has been an issue. “We have not been able to sustain that intensity. It’s been disappointing as we had opportunities in South Africa and here. It’s something we need to look at and work on as we have been good in that area over the last few years.
Maintaining intensity and a level of fitness and that level of performance through the course of a Test match are two areas we have not been good at, which could be the reasons,” he added.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/india-in-england/india-vs-england-5th-test-fourth-innings-bowling-failure-or-third-innings-batting-failure/articleshow/92690013.cms
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