Australia’s fast-bowling great Brett Lee said if India wish to win this year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, they need pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and a recovering Mohammed Shami in top form. While Bumrah and Siraj have been consistently turning out for India, Shami has not played competitive cricket since last year’s ODI World Cup at home due to recovering from an Achilles tendon injury, which needed surgery in London this year.
Shami, who had a strapping on his left knee when bowling in a session after India lost the Bengaluru Test to New Zealand by eight wickets, is likely to feature first in Ranji Trophy to assess his fitness and preparedness before playing the all-important Test series in Australia.
“Mohammed Shami has to be fit if India want to win over here. We all know how good a bowler Bumrah is. He is a guy who can shape the ball both ways and I think he will bowl extremely well. He is great with the old ball. He is a great exponent of reverse swing.
“Mohammed Siraj gets that new ball to talk and when he presents that seam upright, he gets it shape away, and that is where Australia can get in trouble and nick off, especially on these wickets like Perth, like Adelaide, that can be conducive to fast bowling.
“For me, it is that combination. It is those three fast bowlers plus (Ravichandran) Ashwin, the spinner. Then they have guys who are part-time spinners to play a role. But you have to have those three quicks firing if India want to win,” said Lee on Fox Cricket’s ‘The Follow On’ podcast.
Lee also believes in case Shami is not ready in time to play Tests in Australia, India can go in with young speedster Mayank Yadav, the breakout start from IPL 2024 who made his T20I debut against Bangladesh this month. Yadav is also one of the tour traveling reserves for the Indian team in their ongoing Test series against New Zealand.
“The great thing about India is that they are not worried about how much cricket someone has played, how much they haven’t played. It is a bit like a Sam Konstas – if he is ready to go, get him (Mayank Yadav) in there – and I actually love that theory.
“One thing I can promise you is that batsmen are OK around that 135km to 140km an hour mark. It is when they are bowling high 150s — I don’t care who it is — no-one wants to face fast bowling over 150km/h. Yes, you can be a little bit erratic. Yes, you can bowl short and wide and get punished.
“But he looks as though he has the complete package. He is fresh and raw. But I would be inclined to go with him if Mohammed Shami is not ready. At least get him in the squad. Get him around the team and if something happens and he presents himself, he might get that opportunity and I think he would do pretty well on these Australian wickets,” he said.
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