RATTLED India is mulling over mass changes for the second Test to combat a Bangalore wicket that has traditionally helped Australian fast bowlers.
After the pitch disaster in Pune where speculation is rife the local curator revolted against directives from the BCCI to prepare a turning pitch, by instead creating a minefield monster – Australia is expecting a flat track for the next assignment starting on Saturday.
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Touring Aussie teams have played five Tests in Bangalore for two wins and only one loss, with the quicks often dominating in the conditions.
Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood only bowled four overs between them in the second innings in Pune and will be fresh and firing – while X-factor allrounder Mitchell Marsh is yet to roll his arm over and will also be champing at the bit for an opportunity.
Former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin has reflected the state of panic that’s been sparked in the cricket-mad country since Australia’s upset for the ages in Pune – calling for two high profile players to be axed immediately.
Ishant Sharma struggled in the first Test. Picture: APSource:AP
According to Azharuddin, India’s batting line-up has been brutally exposed as light-on by Australia’s bowling arsenal, and wants third spinner Jayant Yadav dropped to accommodate an extra middle-order batsman like Karun Nair.
Veteran fast bowler Ishant Sharma should also be moved on and replaced by lively quick Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
“Any batting debacle leaves a team on the back-foot,” said Azharuddin on India Today.
“I’m not saying the series is lost but one needs to look at the kind of track that you want to play. I reckon Chinnaswamy (in Bangalore) won’t have this kind of turn.
“So my gut feeling is that Jayant Yadav and Ishant Sharama may be dropped from the playing XI.
“Going by that batting performance I expect them to play an extra batsman.
“Also, on the tracks that we are playing, Ishant’s back of the length stuff is not going to work. It’s better that a swing bowler like Bhuvneshwar is brought into the team by Virat.”
Azharuddin played 99 Tests for India and captained for close to a decade.
He said India’s world class spinners were awful.
“This was a bad pitch to bat on,” he said.
“But I am not at all happy with how the spinners bowled on a track like this – especially Ravindra Jadeja.”
Originally published as Indian great calls for bowling overhaul
