How Indian bowlers are at home in England
0.51° 0.68° 1.34° 0.69° 1.02° 0.62° 1.08° 0.76° 1.09° 0.6° 1.55° 0.73° 0.75° 0.69° 1.02° 0.7°
In what are ideal conditions for pace bowling, the India and England fast bowlers are expected to dominate the Test series. The way Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami made adjustments after their flat show in the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in June for the first Test at Trent Bridge made for a fascinating watch.
England’s pace veteran James Anderson too was a different bowler from his subdued display against New Zealand earlier in the summer. According to an analysis by Cricviz, Bumrah, Shami and Anderson again showed that ability to understand and adapt to the conditions and turn things around.
“Bumrah’s main point of difference between Nottingham and the WTC final was the amount of swing on offer to him—way over twice as much. He also found more seam movement and bowled marginally fuller. His good line and length percentages were down on the final, but this was likely a product of his attempts to exploit the swing on offer,” Cricviz explained.
In Southampton, Bumrah’s hit-the-deck bowling proved a mistake. It negated his degree of swing. His average swing against New Zealand was 0.51. At Trent Bridge, he made changes in his release, generating an average swing of 1.34. The prodigious movement he generated meant he was virtually unplayable in both innings. He took four wickets in the first innings as England were dismissed for 183, adding five wickets in the second innings.
Shami too bowled fuller, found more swing and bowled more accurately on a good line and length in Nottingham than in the WTC final. His swing average at Trent Bridge was 1.02
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compared to 0.75 at Southampton.
Bumrah and Co were a yard quicker than the England pacers. The England pacers focused on bowling in the channel while Indian pacers attacked the stumps. In terms of numbers for balls hitting the stumps, India’s average percentage was 10.6 and England’s was 7.8. Bumrah was the best at 11.3 per cent, followed by Shami (10.6), Siraj (10.7), Anderson (8.9), Stuart Broad (9.8) and Ollie Robinson (3.7).
Bumrah & Co averaged 134.54 kph while England clocked at 132.02. With Mark Wood expected to partner Robinson at Lord’s, England will have a speedier attack.
India’s opening batsman KL Rahul said the Indian pacers, with their experience, know what is expected of them. “How Shami and Bumrah started and how Shardul and Siraj continued, how all of them worked together and bowled in the right channels. We saw there were a lot of misses but the way they stuck to plans was great and they got the rewards,” he said during the first Test.
“Our pace attack is the main reason why we qualified for the WTC final. Great to see that each time we go out there, we stick to what we have discussed; more often than not we have got results for being patient and disciplined.”
At Lord’s, the main threat for India batsmen could come from Robinson. Data shows he bowled markedly better than he did on debut against New Zealand at Lord’s. At Nottingham, the 27-year-old moved the ball in from an awkward length, picking a five-wicket haul. His Trent Bridge swing average (1.08) and seam average (0.76) were higher than at Lord’s versus New Zealand (1.02 and 0.62). He targetted the stumps more versus NZ, his percentage of hitting stumps being 16.8 compared to 3.7 versus India.
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