"Where was the supporting cast?" - Aakash Chopra says 5 bowlers were just for numbers
Aakash Chopra has pointed out that Team India relied too much on Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami for fourth-innings wickets and that the other bowlers were a bit of a let-down.
The Indian team failed to defend targets of more than 200 runs in the Johannesburg and Cape Town Tests. Their bowlers failed to create much of an impression as South Africa strolled to easy seven-wicket wins on both occasions.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra bemoaned the lack of support for Bumrah and Shami. He elaborated:
"When you are losing the match, when it comes to the fourth innings, Bumrah and Shami are bowling well but where was the supporting cast? The three extra bowlers you played - whether it was Shardul, Umesh or Ashwin, the support cast did nothing."
The former India cricketer highlighted that none of the bowlers could replicate their first-innings performances in the second essay. Aakash Chopra explained:
"It does not work with just two bowlers. We saw five-wicket hauls from Bumrah and Shami, we was a seven-wicket haul from Shardul Thakur, we saw Siraj bowling well when he had not gotten injured, we saw Umesh Yadav as well, but these were all first-innings performances, which were very good."
The other Indian bowlers could not sustain the pressure exerted by Bumrah and Shami on the Proteas batters in the fourth innings at Newlands. Even Bumrah was slightly off-color in the Johannesburg Test and proved to be quite expensive as well.
"It is not possible for Bumrah and Shami to take wickets every time" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra added that Team India had quantity but lacked quality in their bowling attack. He observed:
"The five bowlers were just for numbers, the quality was not seen in the fourth innings. When you don't see that, then again you are looking at Bumrah and Shami - you please take the wickets. It is not possible for them to take wickets every time."
The 44-year-old concluded by saying that the Proteas bowlers shared responsibility, which was not the case with Team India. Aakash Chopra pointed out:
"Even Rabada didn't take wickets on the last day, there was Ngidi there. At other times, Marco Jansen and Duanne Olivier came and Kagiso Rabada is there in any case. But such a thing did not happen with India. In my opinion, the support cast in the bowling, it did let down a little for sure."
Don't think Bumrah and Shami could have done anything much more in these three Tests to win the series. That element of luck eluded them often. If anything can address the support they have from the following seamers in terms of sustaining the pressure.
Shami and Bumrah scalped 14 and 12 wickets respectively in the three-match series. Although Shardul Thakur also bagged 12 wickets, seven of those came in one innings. Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav took a combined total of eight wickets.