Mitchell Johnson on Indian fast bowlers
With just 29 days more to go for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, the inaugural tournament winner team India once again grabbing everyone’s attention as one of the strongest teams to play the event and the talk’s team’s combination are making the headlines every day since the squad announcement on Monday. Here in this article, we have discussed what has been said by Mitchell Johnson on Indian fast bowlers for the T20 World Cup 2022 squad combination.
The Australian great Mitchell Johnson now made comment about India’s squad combination as “bit risky” as they are probably “a pacer short” for the bouncy pitches in Australia.
Some sports analysts were astonished that the talented Mohammed Shami was kept on standby, but the Indian selectors stuck with the quartet that included Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah.
“If you got an all-rounder (fast bowling) and couple of spinners, four fast bowlers it is a bit of a risk. But India are probably looking at playing two pacers and an all-rounder (Hardik Pandya) and two spinners,” Johnson, who is in India to take part in Legends League Cricket, told PTI.
“In Australia you surely need to play three fast bowlers, possibly four in certain conditions, for example Perth. I guess they have a plan going in but it is a bit of a risk if you only take four (pacers),” the former left-arm tearaway quick said.
Only Bumrah is the main bowler in the Indian setup who can consistently bowl 140 or more, but Johnson believed that pace couldn’t be the only criterion for assembling a strong bowling squad.
India was criticised for their bowling depth—or lack thereof—during the recent Asia Cup in the UAE, where Bumrah was absent.
Johnson, however, thinks the focus on speed is “funny.”
“Those kind of things are funny (That all should bowl at 145 plus). If someone can bowl 145 plus, you don’t need another guy bowling at the same pace. You need guys that back each other up, work together.”
India will start their T20 World Cup campaign on October 23 against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
