2007 T20 World Cup winner Robin Uthappa opined that India’s bowling performance was wayward in the second T20I against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday, October 31. The bowlers didn’t have too many runs to play with as India were bowled out for 125 in 18.4 overs after being asked to bat first. Australia romped home in 13.2 overs, with four wickets to spare.
Former India batsman Uthappa stated that the Men in Blue could have made things difficult for Australia with their quality spinners in the middle overs, but for that to happen the new-ball bowlers had to pick wickets in advance.
“When we were bowling after scoring 125, the start was very important. If we had picked up two or three wickets in the first three or four overs, the game could have been closer because we have quality spinners in the middle overs. I felt we were probably trying too hard to pick up wickets. So we got a bit wayward,” Uthappa said.
Uthappa also said that India’s talismanic pacer jasprit bumrah gets a bit wayward when desperate for wickets.
“I have noticed that when Bumrah gets desperate to pick up wickets, he gets a bit quirky, and if he is disciplined and hits good line and length, he usually picks up wickets. Australia took full advantage of that quirkiness in the beginning, the way we started with the ball in the second innings,” Uthappa added.
This team will learn a lot from this: Uthappa
While Uthappa praised Abhishek Sharma and Harshit Rana for their batting performances, he expressed disappointment over the lack of effort from the other batters. The cricketer turned expert said the young Indian team will learn a lot from the encounter.
“Somewhat disappointing because you obviously lost the toss, but the batters could have bought themselves some time. They opted for the aggressive batting option and lost too many wickets in the first six overs,” he said.
“Abhishek had to direct the innings after six overs. He had a good partnership with Harshit, but apart from that partnership, no batsman supported him so India could have scored at least 150. This team will learn a lot from this. This young team will have to understand that there is a slight extra rebound here and they will have to adjust their game plans accordingly,” Uthappa noted.
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