IND vs AUS 2022: "You can't persist with him for long saying he is your best bowler" - Rajkumar Sharma on India's Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Former Delhi cricketer and Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma was a bit baffled by Indian captain Rohit Sharma repeatedly trusting Bhuvneshwar Kumar at the death.
The first T20I against Australia at Mohali on Tuesday (September 20) marked the third successive occasion where Bhuvneshwar leaked runs in the final overs. The Men in Blue have lost all three of those matches.
In past press conferences, Rohit has defended the pacer, stating that his experience is crucial to the team. However, Rajkumar believes it is time for the team management to look beyond reputation and make some tough decisions.
Speaking to India News Sports, here's what the former Delhi cricketer had to say about Bhuvneshwar's form:
"Rohit Sharma seems to have a lot of trust in Bhuvneshwar Kumar. But if he keeps on going for runs, you can't persist with him for long saying that he is your best bowler."
Rajkumar continued:
"After he got exposed in the Asia Cup and now against Australia, the time has probably come to rethink the strategies and understand how to make the best use of the squad that's available."
Bhuvneshwar conceded 31 runs while bowling the 16th and 18th overs during India's match against Australia.
Team India's bowlers have certainly not been brave enough: Rajkumar Sharma
Rajkumar Sharma feels the Indian bowlers have been a bit timid in their approach, right from the Asia Cup 2022. He has urged them to adopt an attacking mode and bowl with the intent to take wickets.
On this, Rajkumar stated:
"We will need to change our thinking. Anyone can get hit for runs in T20s, but at least you should have the intent of picking wickets. Our bowlers are certainly not being brave enough."
He added:
"Such defensive bowling will not help you in flat tracks against quality opposition. You will need to develop variations and have a proper plan of how you want to go for wickets."
India have a few concerns here. But exercising patience is also key. The main bowlers are coming back from injuries and will take a few games to get into the groove. I hope @yuzi_chahal goes back to his strength of varying his pace which has brought him and the team success.
A lot has been said about Rohit's captaincy as a reason for the team's loss against Australia. But Rajkumar feels that the captain can't be singled out for such a result. He added:
"When you lose a match, there's a lot of blame-game that goes on. But you can't single out the captain for the loss as the coach and the bowling coach are equally involved in planning how to use different bowlers."
Rajkumar went on to say:
"I just hope Bumrah remains fit for the World Cup or else India will be in huge trouble."
Rohit Sharma and Co. will meet Australia in the second T20I in Nagpur on Friday (September 23).
Will the hosts bounce back in Nagpur on Friday? Let us know in the comments.