The final match of the World Test Championship is being played under a constant threat of rain at Southampton. After Day 1, now almost half of Day 4 has been washed out due to rain.
So far in this match, the New Zealand fast bowlers performed brilliantly and bundled the Indian team for just 217 runs in their first innings. Later on when India came to bowl then the pace trio of Virat Kohli looked weak in front of the Kiwi batsmen.
Meanwhile, former New Zealand fast bowler Simon Dole told why India’s fast bowlers have not been able to bowl effectively in this historic match where he pointed lack of match practise for all the three bowlers.
“They are not genuine swing bowlers. We know Jasprit Bumrah can swing the ball, Ishant is more of a swing bowler nowadays, coming round-the-wicket he has that angled wrist with which he takes the ball away from the left-handers, into the right-handers.
“Mohammed Shami has never really been a genuine swing bowler and he’s a seam bowler … That’s why they weren’t swinging the ball much,” Simon Doull told Cricbuzz.
“I did, however, expected the ball to seam a lot more. Shami and Bumrah at times found it but they probably weren’t just consistent enough much like New Zealand weren’t yesterday morning,” he added.
“New Zealand went into the first Test at Lord’s against England, they had the very same preparation that India had coming into this Test – intra-squad matches, trainings, practices – and they looked pretty set and ready to go. Tim Southee bowled beautifully and Devon Conway came off ten days of the net session into a double hundred at Lord’s,” he added further.
“And I thought India would be exactly the same. I think at times you may overthink it and say, ‘Did they have enough preparation?’ I think they probably did. I am sure in the last 10-12 days they would have bowled enough deliveries to make sure they were raring to go.”
The rain gods have played a big part in the final match and just a day left and keeping the reserve day in mind, the players have to do a lot in getting the results.
