Shamik Chakrabarty in Chennai
Take Jasprit Bumrah out of this Indian team, and the contest probably becomes 60-40 in favour of India. The presence of the fast bowler makes the hosts out-and-out favourites, as the two-Test series against Bangladesh commences here in Chennai on Thursday.
India have a world-class spin attack, but on a red soil pitch that is unlikely to break quickly, Bumrah remains India’s biggest match-winner. Rewind to the home Test series against England earlier this year. After losing the first game, Rohit Sharma’s team needed some inspiration and Bumrah’s yorker to Ollie Pope in Vizag provided that. That was probably the turning point of the series. Bumrah’s worldie was a game-breaker. The 30-year-old went on to take 19 wickets from eight innings at an astonishing average of 16.89. Without him, India wouldn’t have won the series.
No wonder then that Gautam Gambhir, India’s head coach, called Bumrah the world’s finest. In a batting nation, the narrative is gradually changing, with the bowlers getting a lot of importance. Bumrah is at the forefront of the change.
“It has not happened many times in India that we start talking about the bowlers,” said Gambhir at the pre-match press conference. “I think it has always been about batters, batters and batters. Until one stage, we were a batting-obsessed nation. You have got to give credit to Bumrah, (Mohammed) Shami, (Mohammed) Siraj, (Ravichandran) Ashwin and (Ravindra) Jadeja that we have started talking about the bowlers here.”
The head coach then lavished praise on Bumrah, arguably India’s MVP. “He is the best bowler in the world in all three formats,” opined Gambhir. “It’s not just his performance. It’s his hunger as well. And the best part is that he wants to play Test cricket as much as he can. I think it’s really an honour that you have got someone (like him) who has been playing for us and sitting in that dressing room. He can make a difference at any stage of the game. So yes, hopefully he can do the same in this series and going forward as well.”
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‘Pant can open the game for us’
India had an optional practice session on the match eve. But Rishabh Pant still turned up and went through his paces. The wicketkeeper-batter is returning to the Test fold after a gap of 629 days. His last game in this format was in December 2022, against Bangladesh. He was fortunate to survive a horror car crash. The recovery and rehab process spoke volumes for his resilience. The southpaw’s return will keep Dhruv Jurel out of the XI. The latter performed very creditably against England, but when Pant is fit, he walks in.
“Look, we all know how destructive he (Pant) can be and what he is in Test cricket,” said Gambhir. “He has got runs everywhere, around the world, and it’s always good to have someone like him who can open the game for us. And it’s not only his batting, he has done phenomenally behind the stumps as well. It’s never easy to keep against the likes of Ashwin, Jadeja and Kuldeep (Yadav). But what he has done behind the stumps has been remarkable.”
Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan unfortunately will miss out, with Pant and KL Rahul taking their places. Then again, as Gambhir said, only 11 players can play. “It’s a long season and their chances will come.”
This is Gambhir’s maiden Test assignment as India coach. What would be his philosophy and style in this format? “I have always been a believer that the best style is the style that wins (matches),” the head coach asserted.
He has a group of boys who love to play Test cricket, contrary to the common perception that the current crop of Indian cricketers values the IPL more.
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