"You should know how to utilize the new ball" - Danish Kaneria on Indian pacers after Day 1 of Dominica Test vs West Indies
Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria was unhappy with Indian pacers' efforts on Day 1 of the ongoing first Test against the West Indies at Windsor Park in Dominica.
The visitors dominated the opening day, bowling out West Indies for just 150 runs. However, Kaneria opined that the Indian fast bowlers could not make the most of the new ball, failing to identify the ideal line and length.
Speaking on his YouTube channel after stumps, Danish Kaneria remarked:
"The bowling from the pacers was quite wayward early on. Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat and Shardul Thakur couldn't really understand the line and length they needed to hit. You should know how to utilize the new ball. You need to bowl full with the new ball instead of banging it short."
Notably, Jaydev Unadkat finished wicketless, while Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur bagged one wicket each. It was the spinners who stole the show. Ravichandran Ashwin claimed five wickets, registering his 33rd fifer in Tests, while Ravindra Jadeja picked up three wickets.
"Hamare pass fast bowlers ki line nahi lagi hui hain" - Rohit Sharma on India's pace attack
Ahead of the first Test against West Indies, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that the side are struggling to form a strong fast bowling attack, given that a few seamers are currently on the sidelines due to injuries.
He suggested that the team management has no option but to go ahead with the limited resources they have. Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Sharma said:
"Fast bowlers have claimed a lot of wickets here (in West Indies). People get injured, and we have to rotate players, unfortunately. Hamare pass fast bowlers ki line nahi lagi hui hain (we don’t have a line of fast bowlers)."
"There are lots of Indian fast bowlers who are injured, so we have to manage the bowlers that we have. Our experienced bowlers could not come on this tour," he added.
In reply to West Indies' 150 runs in the first innings, India were at 80/0 at the end of Day 1. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma are unbeaten at 40 and 30 runs, respectively.