More than the batting, a potent bowling attack is India’s strength in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy beginning in Perth on Friday. In the match-simulation process at the Waca in Perth that ended on Sunday, Team India bowling coach Morne Morkel appeared quite pleased with how the bowlers fared and shaped up, making him believe the team is “on track” for the opening Test at the Perth Stadium.
“Very happy with how the bowlers went… They summed up conditions very well. Yeah, I think we’re on track for the 22nd (of November). So, another three training sessions left,” Morkel said on the BCCI Instagram handle. “We’ll sit down and start planning, looking at game plans and how we’re going to bring out the best and edge in everyone for game time on the 22nd,” the former South Africa pacer added.
Although KL Rahul did return to the field on Sunday after sustaining a blow on his right elbow off Prasidh Krishna’s bowling, India lost their No.3 batsman Shubman Gill during the match simulation as he hurt his thumb while fielding at the slip cordon. That aside, the bowlers had a solid workout at the Waca, bowling a good number of overs with spearhead Jasprit Bumrah bowling as many as 18.
“Day II was about our bowlers coming in and bowling spells, bowling 15 overs each and keeping their workload in mind. Bumrah has bowled 18, and a couple of others also bowled 18... So, it’s just more about getting the guys into the game sense,” assistant coach Abhishek Nayar said.
Among the bowlers, Mohammed Siraj, set to share the new ball with Bumrah on his second Australia tour, got a special mention from Morkel. The bowling coach believes Siraj will fulfil his duties as a senior player successfully on this Australia tour. “This man (Siraj) is a legend. He’s got a big heart, aggressive mindset and is one of the leaders of the attack, and I’m very excited to see how he goes on this tour,” Morkel stated.
“Last year, he was the go-to man in tough situations, and we’re excited to see more of that senior role coming out on a very important tour.”
There has been some talking about the Indian team management’s decision to scrap the intra-squad warm-up game ahead of the Perth Test. Its focus, though, was on getting the players acclimatised to the conditions, and in that regard, match simulation would be more beneficial to them.
“Just before we came to Australia, Gautibhai (Gautam Gambhir), Rohit (Sharma) and we discussed what we wanted out of these three days. The idea was to try and make sure that the younger guys and also the experienced ones get a lot of time in the centre to understand the conditions,” Nayar said.
“Initially, we got the guys to come in and take it like a game where if you got out, you were out. But then, we tried to give the guys another chance and felt that the second time around, they adapted better and felt a lot more comfortable.”
