Bumrah and Bhuvi are two of the best death bowlers, says Smith

09/25/2017

BCCI

After Australia’s defeat in the third ODI in Indore, Steve Smith has praised Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar calling them the best death bowlers in world cricket right now. Smith also added that Australia need to figure out their shortcoming quickly to turn around their results.

Smith appreciated Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar’s performances and stated that both of them played an instrumental role in India’s victory as they didn't allow the Australian batsmen to score freely in the last six overs, when the visitors had the opportunity to get their team past the 300-run mark. Both Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar restricted the big hits and as a result, the Aussies could score only two boundaries and a total of just 38 runs in the final six overs.

"I think a mixture of guys making probably the wrong decisions on the wrong balls. Also, some pretty well executed bowling. I think Bumrah and Bhuvi are probably two of the best death bowlers going around, particularly when the wicket sort of slows up a little bit as it did," said Smith after the match, reported PTI.

"We still need to find a way. We set a template really well. The first 38 overs were magnificent. We set it up and we just weren't to execute it in the back end."

Moreover, Smith feels that it has become a "trend" for the Australian team to get close to winning games but, unfortunately, end up losing them. Even in the 2nd ODI, the Australian team looked to be in complete control of the proceedings but after Kuldeep Yadav grabbed a hat-trick, the Aussies crumbled under pressure and the entire team was wrapped up in 44 overs.

"We are quite often getting ourselves in good positions but not taking advantage of those. Today was no different, first 30 overs. We continually address it. It's just hard to put your finger on it what we are actually doing or not doing to get the results we are after. Today, it was about execution," he said.

Since Australia has been facing continuous defeats, Australian captain confessed that it becomes quite difficult for him to motivate the team after such defeats. Australia also had the added incentive of grabbing the top spot, since both India and Australia were level on points before the series, but their performances have not shown the desire required to be at the top of pile.

"It's always hard when you lose. Particularly when you lose three-nil. We've got to continue to try and motivate them and get them up for the next two games. We've got to start winning games of cricket,” the Australian captain said.

"We've lost 13 of the last 15 games we've played away with two being no results. That's pretty ordinary. Not good enough for an Australian cricket. We need to start turning the results around and winning some games of cricket.”

Get updates! Follow us on

Open all