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- The situation changes when Bumrah is in the team
- Management needs to find 19th over option: Gavaskar
- Bhuvneshwar gave away 16 runs in the 19th over against Australia
Veteran India batsman Sunil Gavaskar feels that senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s performance in the death overs, especially the 19th over, has become a real concern for India ahead of next month’s ICC T20 World Cup in Australia. Bhuvneshwar has conceded a lot of runs in the last few death overs. He gave away 16 runs in 19 overs in the first T20 against Australia on Tuesday, which helped Australia achieve a record-breaking run chase of 209 runs.
19th over a concern
Gavaskar said that I don’t think there was too much fog in Mohali during the match and the bowlers didn’t have any trouble. Indian fielders or bowlers were never seen using towels to dry their fingers. This is no excuse and it is certain that the Indian bowlers bowled without a gameplan. The 19th over has become a concern in the last four to five matches and coach Dravid and skipper Rohit will have to address this issue as soon as possible.
India failed to defend a good score
Emphasizing that a senior and experienced bowler like Bhuvneshwar has become expensive every time he is handed the ball, Gavaskar added that he has conceded 49 runs off 18 balls (bowling in the 19th over) in three matches against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and now Australia. This is an average of about three runs per ball. Such an average cannot be expected from a bowler of his experience and ability. This is a matter of real concern. Gavaskar said that India failed to defend a good score. However, there is no doubt that Bumrah’s return will strengthen the bowling department. Whenever he has been injured, India have suffered and the bowling attack has weakened. Things change when Bumrah is in the team as he is a top-order wicket taker but let’s not forget that this is a world champion team.