"Jaydev Unadkat was also doing the same" - Rajkumar Sharma urges Team India pacer to cut down on slower ones
Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma feels Team India pacer Harshal Patel is bowling too many slower balls and needs to vary his deliveries to remain effective.
While the 31-year-old has made an impressive start to his T20I career, he was a tad expensive in the death overs against Sri Lanka. In the second T20I, he conceded 52 runs in four overs.
Speaking on the "Khelneeti" podcast, Sharma admitted that Harshal needs to be less predictable. He elaborated:
“Harshal is using too many slower ones. Jaydev Unadkat was also doing the same, which made him predictable because of which batters were able to read him nicely and counter him effectively. Harshal needs to mix it up. He bowls the slower one really well. But every team does video analysis and, unless the bowlers continue to evolve, they will find themselves in trouble.”
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The 56-year-old added that leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi faces a similar dilemma and spoke about the promising youngster:
“Ravi Bishnoi relies too much on his googly and his flipper. Once the batters start reading him and come to know that he is mostly bowling googlies, they will be able to tackle him with the spin. Variations are very important in T20 cricket.”
Bishnoi has played four T20Is so far and has claimed as many scalps at an economy rate of 6.75.
“Take example of Bumrah” - Rajkumar Sharma on how Team India pacers can improve death bowling
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Although Team India hammered Sri Lanka 3-0 in the T20I series, their death overs bowling was quite disappointing. The Lankans plundered 80 runs off the last five overs in the second T20I and 68 in the final match.
Admitting that death overs bowling has always been an area of concern for India, Sharma added:
“India will have to improve very quickly and learn. We have tried a few youngsters recently who need to get better with their planning. They can take the example of Bumrah and how he mixes things up. Harshal Patel is a good death overs bowler. He bowls his slower ones with a lot of confidence. I hope he can keep improving because that will be really good for Indian cricket.”
Despite their bowling woes, India thumped Sri Lanka 3-0 as Shreyas Iyer cracked unbeaten fifties in all three matches.