India should stick to this bowling unit, says Damien Fleming

Sydney: The Indian bowling unit might have come under criticism after the 2-0 Test series loss, but former Australia cricketer Damien Fleming insists that sticking to the present bunch of bowlers will be beneficial in the longer run.

“I will want to keep this fast bowling unit together and keep them learning. Ishant Sharma looks like he is starting to get consistent. In Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron they have two bowlers who can bowl at 90-plus (miles per hour) and can swing the ball at the same time. There are not a lot of bowlers around who can do that. So I will be looking to play them as much as possible,” Fleming said.

“Mohammad Shami is handy but he is not one or other, not too fast and doesn’t move the ball too much, he is just about there. And then India has Bhuvneshwar Kumar up their sleeve who is a gifted swing bowler and in the right conditions India will play him,” he added.

The bowling unit not only gave away too many runs in the four matches but also failed to get 20 Australian wickets in any of the games.

On day four of the final Test at SCG, India conceded 213 runs in the final session of play to throw away the advantage. It highlighted the key problem of this bowling attack even as Ashwin took four wickets and didn’t find enough support to restrict the Australian batting.

“That’s where India has struggled. One guy might be bowling well at one end, but they are leaking runs and boundaries at the other end,” the former Australian fast bowler said.

In a series where India saw two captains taking turns to lead the side, the result was disappointing and Fleming also opines that leadership and planning plays a key role in a team’s success.

Losses notwithstanding, Fleming had some encourage words for the visitors ahead of the ODI tri-series and said that consistency would play a key role in the team’s future.

“India played a lot better here than England did last year and they had chances to win both the first Tests and took the next two Tests to the fifth days.”

“The reason they have not been able to win is inconsistency in all skills and it is hurting them hard at the moment. The one huge positive for them shown by this series is that they certainly have a batting line-up that can score runs overseas. They are reasonably young cricketers as well so should serve Indian cricket for some time to come.”