Not only Virat Kohli but Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill will also fill in as sixth bowlers for India during their mega clash against England at Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday (October 29). With Hardik Pandya ruled out of the clash against England, India’s balance is gone. Also with India making clear to play five specialist bowlers, Mohammed Shami is to play in Pandya’s absence.
That leaves India with six batters. Amongst them, only Kohli bowled during the match against Bangladesh (when Pandya was out injured). But now the latest news to emerge is that Suryakumar and Gill have also rolled their arm over for India’s optional practice session yesterday.
While we have seen SKY bowling in IPL and domestic matches for Mumbai, Gill is an unknown quantity. The youngster is yet to bowl in the international matches.
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Surya bowled in the nest session to Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer. In fact, SKY also deceived the latter, which brought simile to the face of Ashwin. Surya bowled for more than half an hour. Meanwhile, Gill bowled to Mohammed Siraj for close to 30 minutes. The former also managed to beat the latter a couple of times.
Surya is a legbreak bowler, and has rolled his arm a lot for Mumbai in domestic tournament. The 32-year-old has also bowled for KKR in IPL in 2014 season before he was called out for suspect action.
India tackle Hardik Pandya absence in a unique way
The plan for India to bowl these part-time bowlers in the nets is to be prepared when any of the five specialist bowlers have an off-day. India does not want to take any risk since the business end of the tournament is nearing.
Pandya is set to also miss the clash against Sri Lanka. It is also not sure whether the all-rounder will be fit for India’s last league matches against South Africa and the Netherlands. Rohit Sharma & Co will also have one more session today before they take on England on Sunday.
