Veteran pacer Zaheer Khan feels that the Indian fast-bowling unit is good enough to take 20 wickets in all each Test match against South Africa. Virat Kohli and C0. are all set to play three-match Test series against the Proteas starting from December 26. It is going to be a tough challenge for India as they will look to break the series-win drought on South Africa soil. The Asian giants have played dominant cricket in the past couple of overseas tours in Australia and England as South Africa remained the only big challenge for them to conquer.
Zaheer lauds India’s fast bowling attack which comprised of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur.
“They are certainly good enough to take 20 wickets in each Test. They have been performing consistently all over the world. It is a good, balanced attack. The best part is that we have enough variety within the fast-bowling pack,” Zaheer told Hindustan Times.
The veteran pacer talked about the qualities of Ishant, Bumrah and Shami. He called Bumrah a world-class bowler who creates a lot of problems for batters with his pace and guile.
“We have a tall bowler like Ishant Sharma to extract extra bounce from awkward lengths and someone like Mohammed Shami with his prominent seam position who can move the ball both ways off the deck. Then we have got Jasprit Bumrah, who is truly world-class and has created problems for batters with pace and guile.”
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However, Zaheer pointed out the only missing piece in the Indian bowling attack is a left-arm quick.
“We also have an excellent second battery in Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Siraj. On the whole, we have a well-rounded attack and there is no reason to think they won’t get the desired success. Perhaps the only bowler missing is a left-arm quick, but I guess you can’t do much about it. A left-armer does give you the advantage of a different angle, but unfortunately for India, the wait continues,” mentioned Zaheer.
On Monday, India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey had said that his players will have to be prepared for bouncy conditions, and they will have to work on their technique in order to hit “the right areas”.
“I think we’ve got to be prepared for such kind of conditions (pace and bounce). When we walked in, we thought it would be sunny. But the moment we turned out at the ground (we got) overcast conditions… it’s always challenging from the bowlers’ perspective as well to kind of hit the right areas. These kinds of conditions we’ll get in the Test match and (we) should be able to exploit those conditions,” Mhambrey had said on Monday.
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