Kartik Tyagi has the potential to be the next devastating Indian pacer, believes Ian Bishop

While Kartik Tyagi was, hilariously, the only Indian net bowler to not play an international game in the tour, the achievement of making it to Australia itself was another feather in the youngster’s cap. After making heads turn with his performance in the IPL for the Rajasthan Royals, Tyagi was taken to Australia as a net bowler, and while he did not get a national cap, he did, however, create ripples in the only tour game he played, notably taking down Will Pucovski with a vicious bouncer. Just 20, few have risen through the ranks as quickly as young Tyagi has. 

“He is quicker than I expected, and he has an aggressive streak to his bowling. If he can control that aggression mindset in addition to streamlining his run-up and angle of delivery on the crease, he could be a handful. But again, it comes back to some of the criteria that we outlined above as to how young players develop and are managed. 

Tyagi was one among a bunch of Indian youngsters who oozed confidence and looked at home in Australia, with the others being the quartet of Gill, Sundar, Pant and Siraj. Bishop reckoned that it was this innate confidence that helped the visitors slay the mighty hosts for the second tour running, and insisted that the self-belief that India showed will always trump any form of uncalled-for aggression.

“I was impressed by how mentally stable and tough Gill, Sundar and Pant (to be fair, Pant had earlier international exposure), were during the series. They just seemed never to be intimidated or overawed. Confidence, without being overconfident, is another key ingredient in the process of transition. That confidence may be innate in a player, or it may be the result of his or her meticulous preparation and hard work. I have heard people say that to beat Australia in Australia, you have to be as aggressive and fight fire with fire. 

One youngster who did not thrive, however, was Prithvi Shaw, who was dropped after the first Test in Adelaide after having his technique exploited by the Australian seamers. Many have suggested for the youngster to go back to Ranji and get runs under his belt, but according to Bishop, that might not be a pragmatic solution. The renowned commentator believes that for Shaw to be a successful international cricketer, the Mumbaikar needs to focus on ironing out the flaws in his technique and not just focus on scoring runs in the domestic circuit, which he was anyway doing prior to the tour.

“I am not the batting technician or guru who can tell Shaw what to do and how to fix his deficiency. There are those much more qualified to do that. It is not simply about going back to domestic cricket and scoring tons of runs.