Vizag, India

The Jasprit Bumrah effect is for real. While the Indian seamer was rocking the touring England side with his out-of-the-world spell on day two of the ongoing Vizag Test, former India captain Sourav Ganguly urged the BCCI to back the bowlers to pick 20 wickets in all conditions, thus asking the board to prepare good wickets and not turning tracks at home for the future Test series.

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Taking to microblogging site X (formerly known as Twitter), Ganguly said that with each passing day, his conviction of watching teams playing on good wickets is getting stronger. He argued that with the seam attack like Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and newcomer Mukesh Kumar, and alongside the dangerous spin trio of Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar, this Indian bowling attack can pick 20 wickets on any track anywhere.

ALSO READ: IND v ENG, Vizag Test, Day 2: Jasprit Bumrah rocks England with record spell as India stand tall

Ganguly wrote, ‘When I see Bumrah Sami Siraj Mukesh bowl . I wonder why do we need to prepare turning tracks in india ..my conviction of playing on good wickets keeps getting stronger every game .. They will get 20 wickets on any surface with ashwin jadeja Kuldeep and axar .. batting quality dropping because of pitches in last 6 to 7 yrs at home ..good wickets are a must .. india will still win over 5 days .. @bcci’

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Such comments have come after Bumrah’s deadly spell against England on day two in Vizag. The ace India seamer bagged six wickets, including that of Joe Root, who was caught in the slips, and Captain Ben Stokes and Ollie Pope.

Besides Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav returned with three wickets in the first innings, and Axar picked just one. While Ravindra Jadeja is missing this Test due to an injury, seasoned campaigner Ravi Ashwin went wicketless in his 12-over spell.

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Spinners dominate at home

In the last decade, Ravi Ashwin has picked more than 340 Test wickets at home, while Jadeja is second on the list with 199 wickets. Axar Patel - despite making his Test debut in 2021, is seventh on the list with 46 wickets from 12 games, while Kuldeep Yadav has picked around 20 wickets in five matches at home. 

Such figures are enough to tell anyone what works well in this part of the world. 

However, since the time Indian pacers helped the touring side win the maiden Test series Down Under about 7 years back, the Indian pace attack has started to emerge as a strong force.

Meanwhile, as things stand, India leads by 171 after day two of play in Vizag.