India vs Australia | Tom Moody believes India’s strong bowling bench augurs well for them in coming matches

India vs Australia | Tom Moody believes India’s strong bowling bench augurs well for them in coming matches

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Tom Moody has stated that India’s bowling bench strength is as good as their first team players and it is a good sign for them as the series progresses. The Aussie has also added that India was always the favourites in the series because the hosts are in a transitional phase right now.

Of course, Adelaide win will remain special for the Indian cricket fans who had to wait for more than a decade to see an Indian win in Australia. But this win is also more landmarking in some sense given it was a win that broke new grounds, so much so that the discussion right now is India lose Test matches because of their batting and winning is mostly because of bowling. It was quite a change in fortune as compared to the teams of the yore. Tom Moody definitely took the notice of it and stated that India’s strong bowling bench augurs well for them in the coming matches of the series.

“For me, it’s not just about the four bowlers on the field (who took 20 wickets in Adelaide). The big advantage India have nowadays while traveling overseas is the bowling bench they have got. You can argue the case that Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav, as well as Kuldeep Yadav, could all have played in the Adelaide eleven,” Moody told Scroll.in.

“So, it’s not just the bowling attack that is picked, but the whole bowling unit they have got on tour, that could easily be as strong with any other combination you go with. It is a terrific advantage to have when you are traveling overseas and you come across different conditions (at different venues) or when you have to rest a player because of soreness in back-to-back Tests as the case might be.”

In the 2011-12 tour of Australia, Zaheer Khan rattled Australia's top-order almost every time with the new ball, but as the ball got older, he was smashed by Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke. The 2014-15 series was no different either as Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, and Ishant Sharma were at the receiving end of Steven Smith's heroics despite using the new ball more judiciously. However, this time Indian bowlers' discipline throughout the duration of an innings stood out and Moody attested to that.

“I think the discipline that they have had from both ends. They really bowled well in partnerships. R Ashwin bowled a huge number of overs like Nathan Lyon did from one end, but it is the discipline in different partnerships that they have had (which made the difference). It helped maintain pressure from the very first over of the Australian innings. This was a Test match with one of the slowest run-rates in some time and a lot of that has to do with excellent bowling from both sides. India, in particular, bowled exceptionally well in conditions that they are not entirely used to bowling in, day in day out. It is a credit to the way they approached this Test and the lengths they adjusted to be as effective as they were.”

Australia are without their two best batsmen - Steve Smith and David Warner - for the series and had to be content with the limited amount of resources at their disposal. The batting unit lacked the firepower and had to be bailed out by the tailenders. Indian batting also posed a sense of vulnerability as apart from Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, not a single batsman could cross the 50-run mark. That forced Moody to assume that India were always the favourites in the series because Australia are in a transitional phase due to the absence of their star duo.

“At end of the day, Australia’s batting line-up is in a transitional phase for obvious reasons. So it is very hard to compare the batting line-ups. If Steve Smith and David Warner were in this top six, it would have looked completely different. In a matter of time, that is going to be the case but it is not so this summer. So Australia are playing a number of batsmen who have only just started experiencing Test cricket. Whereas India have a batting line-up that has got a lot of Test experience.

“Having said that, the Indian batting line-up has a bit of vulnerability as well. Rohit Sharma has been in and out of this Test squad for a number of years, Murali Vijay played in Adelaide only because of Prithvi Shaw’s ankle injury, and Shaw himself is new to Test cricket. Ajinkya Rahane has had a difficult 2018, but came to the party in the second innings, and batted beautifully. So, it is not like the Indian top six is absolutely concrete. There are a few personal challenges that are going on within that batting order.”

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