Former India National Cricket Team captain Mohammad Azharuddin has said the Indian team is overdependent on the pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.
Mohammad Azharuddin also delivered a bold verdict on the newly appointed Test captain Shubman Gill, who came under the scanner after India's loss to England in the Headingley Test match.
Bumrah has been a lone warrior of the Indian bowling unit for quite some time now. He took the responsibility to single-handedly get breakthroughs for India during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, and at the end of the series, his body broke down.
It was expected that he would receive better support from his fellow bowlers in the ongoing England tour, but that wasn't the case in the first Test.
Bumrah once again carried the Indian bowling unit on his back and bagged a sensational 5-wicket haul in the first innings despite plenty of dropped catches. Other than him, Prasidh Krishna picked up three wickets, and Mohammed Siraj got two wickets, but they were expensive.
In the second innings, when England were chasing 371 runs, Bumrah, along with Mohammed Siraj, went wicketless and India faced a 5-wicket loss. Prasidh Krishna (2/92), Shardul Thakur (51/2), and Ravindra Jadeja (1/104) were among the wickets in that innings, but lacked the bite needed for the win.
They are too much dependent on Bumrah - Mohammad Azharuddin
According to Mohammad Azharuddin, India need to field a balanced bowling attack against the Three Lions, so that the premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah is not overburdened by the responsibility to get the job done.
Azharuddin backed the inclusion of the star left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI in the second Test against England at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
"They are too much dependent on Bumrah. It’s not that easy because you need more experienced bowlers, and they should play Kuldeep Yadav," Azharuddin was quoted as saying by PTI from Hyderabad.
Mohammad Azharuddin further blamed the batting collapses for the loss of Team India in the first Test against England.
“We lost because of batting collapse, but anyways now they have to pick the right players and bowling has to be perfect," Azhar added.
Notably, India went from 430/3 to 471/10 in the first innings despite having three centurions, and in the second innings, they collapsed from 333/4 to 364/10, falling short of a winning score.
It’s too early to talk about captaincy - Mohammad Azharuddin
Azharuddin also jumped to Test captain Shubman Gill's defence, stating that the youngster needs to be given a fair share of chances before being judged.
“This is his just first match as a captain, you just can’t talk about captaincy, it’s too early to talk about captaincy," he remarked.
“We should give him a fair chance and he has just taken over, so you should give him a lot of time and support also. We cannot just complain and criticise players like that," he concluded.
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