Team India's bowling attack not just about spin: Graham Thorpe
England batting coach Graham Thorpe has heaped praise on Team India's multi-dimensional bowling attack ahead of the Test series. He explained that the home team are not over-reliant on spinners now.
Graham Thorpe, a former left-handed batsman, represented England in 100 Tests and 82 ODIs. When he played international cricket, India depended heavily on its spinners to succeed, especially in home conditions. However, the trend has changed of late with the rise of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, T Natarajan, and other fast bowlers.
In a conference call before India-England series, Graham Thorpe gave his views on the hosts' bowling attack.
"The one thing about the Indian bowling attack is, it's not just about spin. I suppose their seam attack is also strong and so from that point of view it's not to just get side-tracked completely in into the spin side of things as well," said Graham Thorpe.
The Indian fast bowlers played a significant role in the team's recent success in Australia. In the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Mohammed Siraj picked up 13 wickets in three matches, while Jasprit Bumrah dismissed 11 batsmen in six innings. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also chipped in with 12 wickets in three games.
Team India's bowling has developed into a very good attack: Graham Thorpe
The Australian conditions assisted the fast bowlers. However, in the spin-friendly home conditions, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, and Mohammed Shami took 33 wickets amongst them in Team India's series triumph against Bangladesh in November 2019. In the same series, Ravichandran Ashwin bagged just five wickets, while Ravindra Jadeja failed to pick up any. Graham Thorpe is aware that Team India's bowling unit has developed into an excellent attack.
"Indian bowling has developed into a very good attack and we are very aware of that. When you come to the sub-continent you will have to deal with spin. More so with Indian attack, we are aware. The training time (three days) will be used to strike a fine balance practising both," added Graham Thorpe.
Team India will host England for four Tests, three ODIs, and five T20Is over the next two months. Due to strict quarantine measures, England will get just three days of practise before the first Test, which will start on 5th February in Chennai.