The veteran Abhinav Mukund believes Adam Zampa and Mitchell Starc will pose the biggest threat to India from the Australian bowling attack. The two sides will play against each other in a three-match ODI series, with the first game taking place in Mohali on Friday, September 22. While Australia have picked a full-strength squad for the series, India have rested four main players for the first two ODIs.
During a discussion on Sports 18, Mukund said: “Most definitely, I think Zampa and Starc are going to be the biggest threats for India as far as I am concerned. Zampa has not necessarily bowled well in India when he has played in the IPL but when he turns up for Australia, he is a different beast altogether. I think that’s because of the way he is used and also the protection he has in terms of all those seamers around him. If we have got Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, I think Adam Zampa’s role becomes even more crucial.”
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However, Adam Zampa has claimed 139 wickets at 5.51 in 83 ODIs. He has picked up 31 dismissals at an economy rate of 5.56 in 19 ODIs against India. While saying that Adam Zampa has tasted success against Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, both of whom will not play the first two ODIs, Abhinav Mukund asked the Indian batters to play aggressively against the leg-spinner as well.
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“He has always bowled well against India. He has bowled well against Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma but it’s important that someone takes him on. The questions have been posed more often than not and the answers have been quite sedate. I feel India should take on Zampa a bit more, understand that he is not a big turner of the ball. He has brought in a variation of a googly in the last two or three years but it’s more a top-spinner like how Yuzvendra Chahal bowls it. But I feel Zampa and Starc are the two biggest threats as far as India is concerned,” Abhinav Mukund concluded.
