Our Bureau
London
There has been a lot of talk regarding how India are going to play their ace bowler Jasprit Bumrah throughout the England series. It was made clear by the Indian selector, Ajit Agarkar that Bumrah is not going to play all the matches on the tour. Brad Hogg, former Australian player, has some advice for Shubman Gill, the new Indian red-ball captain regarding how he can utilise Bumrah’s games to its maximum potential.
Hogg spoke out on how he thinks that Gill can get the best out of the games that Bumrah can play. He had emphasized that Bumrah’s use should be very strategic as the fast bowler has the capabilities to turn the match on its head with a single spell. Hogg thinks that it is all but certain that India would need his services in the Lord’s test match.
Hogg said, “You’ve got to be very strategic with those three Test matches. Where are you going to get the most benefit out of him? Because he can turn the game, he can turn the series on its head. So you want to make sure that you play him at Lord’s, definitely, and probably Warwickshire. And I don’t know where you’d play him in the other three Test matches, but you want to make sure you play him in those crucial games.”
Hogg had a very bold strategy in mind as he suggested that India shouldn’t play Bumrah in the first match and shock the English side from the start of the series. The left-arm Chinaman from Australia thinks that although this manoeuvre might give England an edge in the first match chances are they become complacent and would be under pressure once Bumrah returns.
“I probably wouldn’t even play him in the first Test match, actually. I’d just go, ‘Right, England, we don’t have Bumrah.’ But then they’re going to start worrying about him in the second Test match. And if he turns the tide in the second match, then all of a sudden England are playing catch-up. So I’d add a bit of by-play there,” Hogg added.
India is going to begin their World Test Championship campaign against England in a 5-match series in tough English conditions. The series is going to start on June 20th and will be the first major assignment for Shubman Gill as captain. This series is very consequential for Gill to take over the reins after retirement of two stalwarts of Indian Cricket – Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
