the former India Cricketer Ajit Agarkar suggested that India should pick Shardul Thakur over Umesh Yadav in the fourth Test against England starting Friday. India were leading the series 2-1 last year before the final Test was abandoned due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the visitors’ camp.
The visitors played an aggressive brand of cricket last year and the fast-attack played a major role in it, who worked collectively to take England’s 20-wicket haul in three matches, which put them on the backfoot. Apart from Joe Root, the England batsmen failed to counter-attack the Indian fast bowlers on their own soil.
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Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami are sure to feature in the India XI for the match being postponed due to being senior players but it is a difficult task for the team management to pick the other two if they are at four paces like last year. decide to go along with the invasion. ,
News18 CricketNext’s query answered in select media interactions organized by Sony Play Network, Agarkar said that Mohammad Siraj will definitely find a place and called him one of the best bowlers, especially in red-ball cricket.
“I think the last time India played those four Tests, Siraj had a really good series and he is one of the best bowlers at the moment. I don’t see any reason why Siraj would miss out,” Agarkar said.
Siraj faced a tough patch in the IPL this season as he took only 9 wickets in 15 matches and leaked runs at an economy rate of 10.
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Whereas Agarkar feels that India should pick Shardul over Umesh as he brings strength to the batting order. The veteran India pacer feels that choosing Umesh or the famous Krishna will pull India’s tail which could backfire for him.
“Shardul Thakur offers a bit more with the bat at No.8 and if it is helpful for the fast bowlers, he becomes even more effective if some swing is offered,” he said. I think that’s how India will go otherwise if you look at someone like Umesh Yadav or even the famous Krishna, the tail gets a bit long, who has been included in the squad for one-sided Tests. If India go with four fast bowlers then Shardul can probably do that,” he said.
Shardul has played seven Test matches for India so far and has scored three half-centuries out of them while batting in critical conditions.
Last year, Bumrah was the leading wicket-taker for India with 18 wickets in four Tests. While Siraj made a tremendous impression with his 14 wickets. Shami played three Test matches where he claimed 11, while Shardul managed to take 7 in two matches. Umesh was picked for the fourth Test and impressed many with his discipline as he helped India take a 2-1 lead after picking up six wickets in the struggle.
(Watch live coverage of the much-awaited fifth Test between England and India on Sony Six (English), Sony Ten 3 (Hindi), and Sony Ten 4 (Tamil and Telugu) channels starting July 1 at 3:30 pm.
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