Former Indian opener and domestic giant Wasim Jaffer reckons England’s plan of providing a green track at Kennington Oval backfired as India has a quality seam bowling attack. Rohit Sharma had won the toss and decided to bowl first in the overcast conditions in the first ODI on Wednesday.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami are known to be the best bowling pair in the world and they were able to exploit the conditions. Bumrah got two wickets of Jason Roy and Joe Root in the first over he bowled to put the opposition on the backfoot. Shami then dismissed Ben Stokes and then Bumrah accounted for Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone to leave England reeling at 26-5.
Furthermore, India had Prasidh Krishna in their squad, who was able to extract extra bounce from the surface because of his height. Moreover, Hardik Pandya has attained full fitness and he is bowling close to 140 kmph. Ergo, India has a complete bowling battery, which can breathe down the neck of any batting unit.
Jaffer said while talking on ESPN Cricinfo, “(On whether the plan to leave grass on the wicket proved costly for the hosts) Yes. India have three quality fast bowlers and Hardik Pandya isn’t bad either. So they will have to think hard about the kind of pitch they want to give India for the next two games.”
On the other hand, Shami returned with impressive figures of 3-31 as he got the ball to seam. Jaffer rated the Indian pace as the best seam bowler in the world.
“(On whether Mohammad Shami is the best seam bowler in the world) Yes and even across formats, with the new ball, I don’t think anyone can beat him.”
Jaffer added losing the toss had an impact on England’s performance. The hosts just could not get going as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
“(Did England losing the toss have an impact on their performance) Yes. As I had said, if Bumrah and Shami get any help from the pitch, they are very dangerous.”
The second ODI will be played at Lord’s on Thursday.
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