The former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar recently lavished India’s current fast bowling attack, comprising of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami. He proceeded to compare the trio with Pakistan’s historic fast bowling attack. Virat Kohli-led Team India are currently leading the Test series against South Africa 1-0 after winning the opening Test by 113 runs at the SuperSport Park in Centurion and the pacers played a major role in the victory as they restricted the Proteas batting. Shami was the pick of the Indian bowlers with eight wickets, including a five-wicket haul in the first innings. Sanjay Manjrekar said that India have been successful in overseas conditions mostly due to their dominating bowling attack.
Sanjay Manjrekar explains his remarks
“One thing that has changed in recent 5-6 years for the Indian team, which has been a rare instance for India. India’s overseas success comes because India now has the luxury of having three world class seam bowlers. It has had a huge impact,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.
“If you look at the history of Test cricket, earlier when Pakistan used to win outside their country, they too had 3 world class seamers. And now India find themselves in the same condition. These are good signs for Indian cricket,” he stated.
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Pakistan, during the early 2000s, were known for their lethal pace attack, consisting of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar. All three bowlers were known for seaming and swinging the ball with pace.
Sanjay Manjrekar further opined that the likes of Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer should get a bit more chances to show their talent. However, as per the veteran, the Indian team management may continue persisting with Ajinkya Rahane, who scored 48 runs in the first innings of the Centurion Test.
The second Test of the three-match series is underway at The Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. The visitors led by KL Rahul, had won the toss and opted to bat first.