A clinical bowling performance helped India script a historic win against South Africa in Centurion, setting the tone for an elusive series win in the Rainbow nation. The Indian pace quarter took 18 wickets to crush the home batting unit, which failed to get past 200 in either of the two innings.
Mohammed Shami (5/44 and 3/63) had a match haul of eight wickets while Jasprit Bumrah shone with his moments of magic in crunch moments, registering 2/16 in the first innings and 3/50 in the second. Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur turned up as the perfect supporting cast to help India to bring down Supersport Park, which had been a Proteas' citadel for the longest time
The seamers took rain out of the equation to be in charge of the Test and former India pacer Ashish Nehra feels the IPL has played a key role behind the rise of the pace battery. Nehra pointed out how the current team management has got quality pacers at its disposal.
"It makes me very happy. Earlier, there was no IPL and domestic cricket had too much gap and a player played fewer matches. IPL has changed the Indian cricket in a better manner. The team now has seniors like Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar along with the youngsters.
India have ample options in the fast bowling setup and that's been a major reason behind the change. Fast bowling is physically demanding. We have seen players break down and suffer injuries. The team didn't have replacements in the past.. but India now has players who can replace a bowler who has played 50-100 Test matches," Nehra told Cricbuzz.
{{/usCountry}}India have ample options in the fast bowling setup and that's been a major reason behind the change. Fast bowling is physically demanding. We have seen players break down and suffer injuries. The team didn't have replacements in the past.. but India now has players who can replace a bowler who has played 50-100 Test matches," Nehra told Cricbuzz.
{{/usCountry}}"One more thing to point out is India's use of the conditions. Since 2018, the Indian team has travelled twice to England, Australia and South Africa. These foreign tours used to happen once in 4-5 years in the past. India have benefitted from this change, and bowlers have accustomed well to foreign conditions.
"Shami & Bumrah have delivered on flat wickets too. Umesh has also performed in the limited opportunities he's got. Ishant also contributes with his experience. The Indian bowling unit has fared reasonably well in 2021," Nehra further said.
Post an impressive year in Test cricket with a win in the Boxing Day Test, India are set to play their first match of the new year 2022 in Johannesburg starting Monday, January 3.