Siraj, Ishant’s intriguing head-to-head in England
MUMBAI: One could be mistaken into believing that Ishant Sharma, the only vintage hand in India’s new age pace attack, lags behind. His non-inclusion in the playing eleven in the Nottingham Test—his injured right hand may have contributed though vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane had declared everyone except Mayank Agarwal fit—would have led one to believe the 32-year-old could warm the bench for the entire tour. With the emergence of Mohammed Siraj, that cannot be ruled out. But Sharma does have the numbers to stay in contention for every Test in the England series.
Sharma has battled to erase his early image as a one-trick, in-swinging pony. Even his notso-recent form makes for a compelling case of the value he could bring against Joe Root’s team. Since Jasprit Bumrah’s arrival on the Test arena in 2018, India’s pace pack has become a fierce force. During this period he has played an equal part—having featured in 23 Tests to Mohammed Shami’s 25 and Bumrah’s 21. In those games, Sharma’s 80 wickets have come with the best average (19.85) and strike rate (43.8) among the trio. Shami and Bumrah have more wickets, 93 and 92 respectively. Siraj, who played ahead of Sharma in the first Test, is still only six-tests old. Umesh Yadav has played in 12 Tests in this period, but mostly at home.
On India’s last tour of England (2018), Sharma was their highest wicket-taker with 18 scalps, again with the best average (24.27) and strike rate (50.3) among the trio. Of course, Sharma wouldn’t have had this success without Bumrah’s potency and Shami extracting seam movement from the other end. That’s visible in Sharma’s lesser returns from earlier England tours. He has however improved with every outing, taking 14 wickets at an average of 27.21 in 2014, a marked improvement from his first tour in 2011 when he averaged 58.18 for 11 wickets.
Sharma also led the way in the World Test Championship final where he was preferred over Siraj. While Bumrah endured a bad game, Sharma had New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson among his three first-innings wickets.
His improved performances are primarily after his county stint with Sussex in 2018, where he worked with Jason Gillespie, who advised him to target hitting the knee roll of the batsmen, which would automatically force him to bowl fuller. As per the ball-tracking data of India’s 2018 tour of England, Sharma’s average length of 6.76m was the fullest amongst the trio; Shami hitting on an average 7.15m and Bumrah 7.19m.
One statistic though points to the team’s growing belief in Siraj’s ability. The Hyderabad pacer may still be raw but ends up bowling a lot many overs compared to Ishant. Siraj bowls approximately 33 overs per Test he plays while Sharma is used for around 25 overs. Shami bowls 29 overs while Bumrah, being the spearhead, bowls the most (36 overs).
Sharma was once the team’s workhorse, bowling the longest spells, the first in line to bowl round-the-wicket spells against left-handed batsmen. In Siraj, India has found someone fiveyears younger who can do all that and also extract more seam and swing movement. Australia was Siraj’s breakthrough tour. From not starting in the first Test, he finished as the leader of the attack in the end. Some of his exuberance can show up, like it did in the 2nd innings of the last Test where he lost his bowling discipline after engaging in verbals with the England players. Never did Virat Kohli rein him in. Perhaps, he sees some of his own feistiness in Siraj.
New Zealand cricket great Cairns on life support: Report
WELLINGTON: Former New Zealand cricket great Chris Cairns was on life support in Australia following a serious cardiac problem, the Newshub website reported on Tuesday. Cairns suffered an aortic dissection—a tear in the body’s main artery —last week in Canberra and is understood to have had several surgeries since, Newshub said. However, the former Black Caps skipper “has not responded to treatment as hoped”, Newshub said, adding that the 51-year-old “will be transferred to a specialist hospital in Sydney”. Cairns had a successful 17-year international career as an all-rounder, playing 62 Tests and 215 ODIS.
President Kovind to host Tokyo contingent
NEW DELHI: President Ram Nath Kovind will host India’s Tokyo contingent for high tea on Saturday at Rashtrapati Bhavan, his secretariat informed. “Sports federation chiefs and the sports ministers would also be invited,” said an official. “The President will deliver a short speech and interact with the sportspersons,” said the official.
Indian archers smash junior world record
WROCLAW (POLAND): Indian compound archery girls and the mixed team smashed two junior world records during the qualifying of the World Youth Championship here on Tuesday. Priya Gurjar, who shot 696 for individual pole, Parneet Kaur and Ridhu Senthilkumar combined for 2067/2160 points to smash the standing women’s team world record by 22 points.
WFI suspends Vinesh for indiscipline
NEW DELHI: The Wrestling Federation of India on Tuesday “temporarily suspended” Vinesh Phogat for indiscipline during her forgettable Tokyo Olympics campaign and also issued notice to Sonam Malik for misconduct. Vinesh has been given time till August 16 to reply to the notice that mentioned indiscipline on three counts.