Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar feels resting Mohammad Shami in Indore was not a smart move from the team management. Shami looked off-color in his opening spell on Day 1 in the fourth Test match against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Thursday.
The first ball which Shami bowled was adjudged as a wide and he could not hit the right areas in the first-hour play. In fact, Shami had scalped four wickets in the first innings of the Delhi Test but he was rested in Indore as Umesh Yadav was brought into the final XI.
Furthermore, the players couldn’t do their routine warm-ups before the start of play due to security reasons as India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counter Anthony Albanese greeted the crowd in Ahmedabad.
As there was a gap of eight days between the Delhi and Indore Test, Gavaskar felt it didn’t make sense to rest Mohammad Shami in the third Test.
Gavaskar said on air while commenting on Star Sports, “Resting Mohammed Shami was not a smart move. You had 8 days break between the 2nd and the 3rd Test. He bowled military medium in his first two deliveries. The batter is nervous, he is not yet off the mark. If he sees the ball go harmlessly to the keeper, he gets an opportunity to see what the pitch is doing. He can then mentally start to relax just that little bit.”
Gavaskar added that Shami is the type of bowler who likes to be in rhythm and he couldn’t hit the straps in the opening hour due to a lack of match time.
“Great bowlers were at you straightaway, from the first ball. I think, you know that Shami is the kind of bowler who likes to be in rhythm, may be you shouldn’t rest him. I think it’s important to get your bowling muscles going, in the gym, you don’t get your bowling muscles going.”
However, Shami made a solid comeback in his second spell as he got the big wicket of Marnus Labuschagne after the batter played on. Furthermore, Shami rattled Peter Handscomb’s stumps in the third session of play and he was the pick of the Indian bowlers on the opening day as he returned with figures of 2-65 in his 17 overs.
But Australia has taken an early advantage as they were 255-4 at stumps on Day 1, following a fine hundred from Usman Khawaja.
