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'Ashwin has taken retirement...': Cheteshwar Pujara's blunt assessment on India's 'weak' bowling
Cheteshwar Pujara reckons India's bowling unit looks a little weak after the retirement of Ravinchandran Ashwin, heading into the Boxing Day Test.
Ever since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia got underway in November, questions have been raised against the Indian team combination, especially the bowling department. Now that Ravichandran Ashwin has announced his retirement from international cricket, the experience is lacking in the spin department, and it does not auger well for the visitors, considering the last two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney can offer some assistance to the slower bowlers.
India batter Cheteshwar Pujara has now flagged India's bowling, expressing his concerns. He said that if Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy are eventually chosen as the fourth and fifth options, then the bowling will not be that "good."
Speaking to Star Sports, Pujara said, "My biggest question and the reason for a little bit of concern is that the Indian bowling is looking a little weak. Batting is a little better, like the top five didn’t do well, but the middle and lower middle order, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitesh, and even tail-enders, Bumrah and Akash Deep contributed with the bat."
“Now, there is a weakness in the bowling, so what will you feed the team? That is the biggest question, because you can’t drop Nitish, you can’t drop Jadeja, so what will be the team combination? Ashwin has taken retirement, so two spinners, I don’t think they will play in Melbourne," he added.
How will you strengthen your bowling?
Pujara also reckons Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir need to look at ways to strengthen their bowling if they want to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the third time in a row Down Under.
"So, how will you strengthen the bowling? Because the three seamers are very good, but their supporting role. Nitesh Kumar is the fourth seamer, and Ravindra Jadeja is the fifth bowler," said Pujara.
“If you add both of them together, the bowling is not that good. We will have to think about that, because if you want to win a test match, then you have to take 20 wickets, and the ability to take 20 wickets is not that good; the supporting role of the other bowlers is not good, so we will have to improve that as soon as possible, and how that will be, I don’t know, but that is a big question," he added.
In the first Test in Perth, which India won, Washington Sundar was the lone spinner ahead of Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin.
Ashwin then made his way into the playing XI for the Adelaide Test. However, the veteran with 537 Test wickets was dropped for the third match in Brisbane, and Ravindra Jadeja got a chance.
India have opted to play a different spinner in all three Tests. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy currently stands on level terms at 1-1, and both India and Australia have everything to play for in the Boxing Day Test, beginning December 26.
