New Delhi: Former India left-arm spinner Maninder Singh is sure about the fact that India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has a niggle that resulted in the seamer going wicketless in the all-important World Test Championship final against New Zealand at Southampton. Talking about whether lack of match practice can be one of the reasons why the Indian fast bowlers failed to look as effective as the New Zealand bowlers, Maninder reckoned that they are international cricketers and they have the experience of bowling in similar conditions in the past and therefore it cannot be the only reason for their collective failure as a bowling unit.
“These are international cricketers and they have bowled well in the past in foreign conditions. I think where we missed out is the fact that Bumrah is not looking like the Bumrah we know. I am sure there is some niggle somewhere which is playing in his mind. Because in the IPL also, he didn’t look the Bumrah we know. He was not giving you any confidence when you were watching him,” Maninder told india.com in an exclusive chat.
“I think the same happened here, in these conditions where he couldn’t pitch the ball up and I know one thing for sure with a little bit of coaching experience that I have, especially to the spinners, I know one thing that if the fast bowler is not being able to pitch the ball up that means there is some niggle in the back or there is some niggle that is playing on his mind and you don’t want to get injured. Because this was a surface he needed to pitch the ball up,” added the former India left-arm spinner.
Maninder also went on to praise Kyle Jamieson for his performance in the final and revealed the reason behind the collective failure of the Indian bowling unit.
“Just look at Jamieson and that was intelligent bowling as he just pitched the ball up and the surface did the rest. So that is where our asset became a liability like Bumrah and things went wrong in the bowling department. Because when you are expecting a lot from a bowler like Bumrah and he doesn’t deliver, you will be struggling,” the 55-year-old further went on to add.
New Zealand went on to beat India by eight wickets in the World Test Championship final at Southampton.