Indian cricket team, under the leadership of skipper Rohit Sharma, is set to face Australia in the finals of the Test Championship at the iconic Oval Cricket Ground in London from June 7. Ahead of the prestigious game, former Australian pacer Jason Gillespie backed Mohammed Shami for the upcoming game and called him the biggest threat to the Aussies.
In a recent interview, Gillespie said that Shami’s ability to generate swing off the pitch will be crucial for the Indian team. He also warned Pat Cummins and company to beware of him in the summit clash. Gillespie lauded Shami’s seam presentation, calling it “one of the best in the world.” He believes that if there is any movement off the pitch, Shami can take advantage of it and raise challenging questions to the Australian batters. Gillespie also hailed another Indian pacer, Mohammad Siraj, praising his aggressive approach and ability to possibly take 200-plus Test wickets.
Notably, Shami had one of the best times with the bowl in the recently concluded Indian Premier League 2023. For Gujarat Titans, he clinched 28 wickets in 17 games and won the Purple Cap. He had been phenomenal throughout the season and now will be leading the Indian bowling line-up in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah.
Who will be India’s third pacer against Australia?
In the absence of Bumrah, the Indian team management will have to choose one out of Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat and Shardul Thakur as their third fast bowler in the prestigious game. Notably, all three are coming back from some sort of injury and haven’t bowled much in recent times. This might become a tension for team management and captain Rohit Sharma.
However, India’s batting unit is looking formidable given the form players possess. Both Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill are coming here after scoring 600+ runs in IPL 2023. On the other hand, Cheteshwar Pujara scored more than 500 runs in 9 innings in county cricket for Sussex. However, wicketkeeper-batters and opener Rohit Sharma is yet to score runs and Tean would expect it to come in the very crucial game.
