After demolishing Bangladesh, India’s seam team say they feed off each other’s success

Mohammed Shami becomes the most successful second innings bowler in last two years

Meanwhile, Umesh said he tries to provide the team with early breakthroughs so that the job becomes easier for the spinners. “I try to maintain my strength. Earlier, the new ball was doing a lot for pacers. We know our strengths. We try to take wickets with the new ball and make it easier for spinners,” Umesh said.

Ishant stated that there is a healthy bond among the teammates and all of them enjoy each other’s success. “We always enjoy each other’s success, speak with each other and try and share our plans.”

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Ishant further explained that it’s difficult for him to explain his recent purple patch. “I have played quite a lot. I am only 31 but having played almost 100 games, the body does feel old. The bowling is taking a toll on my body, but I’m enjoying it, trying out different variations.”

Shami said he’s looking forward to playing the pink-ball Test in Kolkata. “What I try to do is to pitch it on a good spot, nothing special. I just try to execute a good line and length. That will be the same with the pink ball also,” he said.

He said given Umesh’s power with the bat, all the boundaries in India looked small. “We don’t have restrictions as batters. The team management has given us freedom. We try to bat sensibly, though, when there is a batter at the other end. I have been empowered by the skipper and the coach.”

Arun lauds Umesh’s character, Ishant’s experience, Shami’s seam position

India’s bowling coach Bharat Arun was overwhelmed with the bowling display by India’s pace battery and lauded all the three for the clinical show. Crediting Ishant’s experience behind his success, he said, “Ishant is probably the most experienced bowler we have. He has played over 90 Test matches. He felt that he needs the batsmen to play a lot more. It was about him trying to experiment with different angles. What he’s doing now, suits his bowling best.”

When asked about Umesh, the bowling coach lavished praise on the “character” that he has shown despite being in and out of the side due to specific team combinations. “Umesh showed a lot of character in coming back. But then that’s also an embarrassment of riches (with Bumrah on his way to recovery),” the former India bowler said.

“You have five fast bowlers (Buvneshwar Kumar) who are ready to play for the country. And over a period of time if you can manage the workloads well, we can ensure that each one is nice and fresh for every game that we play.”

The craftiest among all the Indian fast bowlers is undoubtedly Shami, whose “seam position” according to Arun is best in the world.
“Shami has always had the speed. It’s not fair to compare but if you look at bowlers all around, Shami’s got probably the best seam position. And one way to maintain the speed is he’s spent a lot of work doing his fitness.”

“There is a perfect balance between fitness and the bowling he does. I think that works very well for Shami and that’s the secret behind it,” he added.

When a Bangladeshi scribe asked how the pace revolution started in India, a visibly satisfied Arun replied: “The hunger to do well.”

-with PTI inputs