The final of battle of World Test Championship is set to take place between India and Australia. Australia toured India and lost the key Border-Gavasker Trophy 2-1 in toughest conditions to bat against the formidable Indian side.
India has a strong spin attack but at the Oval, where WTC will be played, fast bowlers are expected to lead the attack. Ex New Zealand great Ross Taylor has backed Indian fast bowling cartel to trouble the Aussies despite the absence of Jasprit Bumrah.
Mohammad Shami was best pick in the fast bowling department against Australia at home. On a spin friendly track of Nagpur, the right arm fast bowler proved to be difference between both teams.
In the next three matches, the Indian fast bowling attack wasn’t at its best, with most of the job done by iconic duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. However, Taylor believes that the Indian fast bowling cartel will fire and adapt the conditions presented at the Oval.
“Any time you play in England, conditions and the weather play a big part,” Taylor said.
“Any time you think of Australia and India, and also you’re playing in a neutral ground, the seamers play a big part. The Australian seamers are renowned for bowling with the Dukes ball and have a lot of experience.
“I wouldn’t rule out this Indian side. They have had a lot of success over there in the years gone past, they have a few of these seamers.”
When India lost the first World T20 Final to New Zealand, Bumrah, Shami, and Ishant Sharma were the pace attack leaders. Taylor, who scored the winning runs, was hailed as a national hero.
Jasprit Bumrah last competed for India in September 2022 and has been sidelined with a back stress fracture, thus his participation in the WTC Final this time is quite doubtful.
Taylor is convinced that India has enough alternatives to rely on for pacers to have an impact in the conditions in England, even with Bumrah in a race against time to recover in time for the WTC Final.
“Very tough to replace someone like Bumrah. He’s been fantastic in all three formats and is the leader of their bowling attack,” Taylor said.
“But I think there’s still enough depth in this Indian line-up to trouble the Australian side. Shami and co are fantastic in these conditions.
“When you consider the India attack, Siraj and co are also very good with the Dukes ball.”
In 2021 WTC final, Siraj wasn’t part of the team, but this time he will be and he can swing the ball both ways and Australian openers have struggled for a long time against moving balls. So far, he has 47 wickets in 18 test matches, and a significant part of his success came against Australia in foreign conditions.
I think there are still a lot of (India) seamers that are fantastic and enjoy bowling with the Dukes ball,” Ross Taylor said.
“Shami and his seam presentation, the way he bowls with the new ball, I think he is going to enjoy bowling with the Dukes ball. These players bowl in all conditions and the way they go about it.
“Umesh Yadav also bowls 140-plus. They will relish the opportunity to bowl with the Dukes ball and in English conditions.”