India’s pace options in T20 look a little light
Playing Bumrah and Umesh as only seamers in Vizag backfired
Australia took a 1-0 lead in the two-match T20I series with India, thanks to a three-wicket win in Visakhapatnam. Ahead of the second match in Bengaluru, the contrasting fortunes of the two bowling attacks make for an interesting discussion.
The two sides read conditions very differently, with Australia picking just one frontline spinner in Adam Zampa, knowing they could rely on the part-time offerings of Glenn Maxwell, D’arcy Short and Ashton Turner if needed. Short supplemented Zampa’s three overs with two of his own but, apart from that, India were served a diet of raw pace from Australia’s four quicks.
Australia’s fast bowlers conceded 94 runs from 15 overs; never have they bowled so many overs of pace in a T20I in Asia and conceded so few runs. Between them, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-nile, Jason Behrendorff and Jhye Richardson conceded a boundary with just 10% of the balls they bowled — a figure that is also the lowest an Australian pace attack has recorded in a T20I innings in Asia.
Behrendorff bowled all three of his overs with the new ball and returned 1-16. Exactly half of his deliveries were dots and he only conceded two boundaries. The key to Behrendorff’s success was that he barely offered India any balls to drive; all his deliveries were either on good length or back of length and he was only driven twice.
That set the tone for Australia, put pressure on India’s batsmen and allowed Coulter-nile to come in during the later overs to bowl with success. Coulter-nile drew a false shot with 28% of the balls he bowled, the highest percentage of Australia’s seamers.
The penetration and threat that Behrendorff, Richardson and Coulter-nile showed meant that Australia had the luxury of using Pat Cummins as a fifth bowler. That points to the strength in depth that has perhaps gone under-appreciated in terms of the make-up of Australia’s pace bowling reserves. Behrendorff and Richardson are new to the team, while Coulternile has been in and out owing to injuries, but all three showed they are capable of stepping up to the ask.
INDIA ON A DIFFERENT PLANE
India went in a different direction with their bowling lineup. Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav were the only seamers in the XI and the latter struggled to make an impact with figures of 0-35 from his four overs.
Australia’s batsmen identified Yadav as the weaker link of the two seamers, attacking him 58% of the time, compared to the 29% that they went after the impressive Bumrah. In contrast to Australia, whose fringe players made telling contributions, India’s fast bowling reserves suddenly look a little light in the white ball arena.
It is perhaps a little hasty to be making conclusions such as this after just one match but, on the evidence of the performance in Visakhapatnam, Australia certainly appear to be the side with the greater fast-bowling depth in this form of the game.
India have options should they wish to make changes to their bowling lineup. Siddarth Kaul and Vijay Shankar are in the squad and could come in either as a replacement for Yadav, or as an extra seamer alongside him and Bumrah. Unlike the Test team though, where India currently have what is widely regarded as their greatest ever seam attack, the cupboard is a little barer in the shortest format.
In terms of their spinners, India selected Yuzvendra Chahal, Krunal Pandya and Mayank Markande; two leg-spinners and a left-arm orthodox. With Australia fielding five right-handers in their top six, it was a reasonable tactic to pick three spin options whose stock ball is to turn it away from the righthander, especially given that
8.41
10.26 three of those five score quicker against balls turning into them than away.
Krunal was extremely economical and did not concede a single boundary, but he was ineffective as a wicket-taking threat, only drawing a false shot with 4% of the balls he bowled, the lowest of any bowler in the match as Australia were able to work singles off him and target other bowlers.
It remains to be seen whether the performances in Visakhapatnam were a blip or something representative of a wider narrative. But there is no doubt that Australia will travel to
Bengaluru high on confidence with plenty of reasons to believe they can complete a
2-0 series whitewash.