Spinners are always expected to dominate in India but the most successful bowler here on the opening day of the second Test against Australia was Mohammed Shami, who believes home conditions help fast bowlers too. Pacer Shami took four wickets on the first day as Australia were bundled out for 263 in their first innings. Spinner Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin took three wickets each. Early in the innings, Shami targeted the good length region which helped him to dismiss David Warner.
Towards the end of the innings, Shami reverse-balled the wickets of tail-ender Nathan Lyon and debutant Matthew Kuhneman. Shami said in the press conference after the end of the day’s play, “You will not see much difference in the wicket in India.” If you can get help with the new ball, you can also reverse with the old ball. As a fast bowler, the main thing in Indian conditions is which area you bowl and you have to maintain your pace throughout. ,
He said, “The pitch here is not much different from Nagpur, although Australia scored runs in the morning session. But I tried to bowl in the right line and length. Shami and Mohammed Siraj have been equally dangerous in home conditions and the 32-year-old bowler from Amroha believes that success for fast bowlers in India comes from their performance in domestic cricket. Shami said, “We all come after playing domestic cricket. All the fast bowlers have done well and they know how to take advantage of the home conditions. It would not be correct to say that Indian conditions help only spinners or only fast bowlers. ,
He said, “Even in domestic cricket, fast bowlers have done well in the recent past. The focus should be on maintaining line and length and pace. With this you will be successful in all kinds of situations. Something or the other happens on the Indian wicket, otherwise reverse swing is bound to happen. Asked how the pitch was behaving from both the ends, he said, “Not much difference.” Indian wickets are a bit slow but there is a lot going on for the fast bowlers.
