London, Sep 2: Indian cricket team’s bowling coach Bharat Arun has admitted that England’s performance with the ball was better in the third Test at Headingley but added that a low first innings score of 78 to defend made things worse for the Indian bowlers.
India were bowled out for 78 in the first innings of the third Test.
“If you look at Lord’s Test match, you would say Indian bowling was better than English bowling. That was the time when Indians bowlers could swing the ball. They did everything right at that point of time,” said Arun to the media on Wednesday.
“In this Test, English bowling looked a lot better. I would like to see how they would be bowling if they are defending a score of 78. It is no excuse for the bowlers. Yes, there is always room for improvement and we have looked at those very areas and still it is going to be a different cup of tea in the coming Test match,” added Arun.
Arun said Prasidh Krishna’s inclusion in the main squad is a “precautionary measure” and that the team is only looking at workload management of fast bowlers purely from the perspective of the ongoing series.
Mohammed Shami has bowled nearly 100 overs in the series while Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah have crossed the three figure mark.
“As for Prasidh, it just that we need to induce him into Test match now just in case, due to workload. He has been included in the side, considering all the workload management issues. There is nothing more to it than that.”
“We have to look at how many fast bowlers with fresh legs we can play at any given point of time. It is being looked at purely from the point of view of this series and not any further,” the bowling coach added.
The 58-year-old, who has represented India in two Test matches and four ODIs, added that Ishant Sharma was below par.
“Ishant’s form in the last game was a bit of a concern. But I think we have things sorted out,” the bowling coach went on to add.
The pacer returned with figures of 0/92 in the only inning that England batted in the third Test although in the second Test which India won, he took 3/69 in the first innings and 2/13 in the second innings. (IANS)
