Former Indian seamer, Lakshmipathy Balaji reckons that Ishant Sharma will be leading the Indian pace attack which also comprises Japsrit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand from June 18 in Southampton, New Zealand.
Balaji reckoned that Ishant’s experience of playing in county cricket and touring to England thrice could prove to be handy in the upcoming tour which also consists of the 5-match Test series against England.
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During a recent chat with News18, Lakshmipathy Balaji said, “At the moment, I will go with Ishant, Bumrah, and Shami as the top three. There is always going to be a selection dilemma, a good dilemma, where the other exceptional talent will put you under pressure. Ishant has done well there, bowled match-winning spells there, toured with the Test teams three times there. I will use his English county experience of the recent past (Sussex, 2018).”
He further added, “He is the leader of the pack. I will put Bumrah and Shami with Ishant, three totally different bowlers where Ishant can play defense and the other two can be on the offense. Ishant with the new ball can be on the offense against the left-handers. I will fall back upon Ishant when the situation goes out of control. He can put things back in place.”
Further, Lakshmipathy Balaji, who played 8 Tests for India, stated that India pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Jasprit Bumrah are “identical” but not “exactly same”. This particular case can help India to play “attacking” cricket even if Bumrah is not available for some matches, according to Balaji.
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Describing the same, Lakshmipathy Balaji said, “With Bumrah’s talent, you have to see a similar replacement for him. At the same time, you have an opportunity for an identical talent to thrive, say Siraj. They are almost identical, not exactly the same. The ball path, dismissal patterns are similar to LBW, bowled, caught behind. Find a formula. Similar tactical discussions will help the captain, the team management, not go straight into defense but look for the offense if Bumrah is not there.”
