India is definitely missing Bhuvneshwar Kumar at Southampton for WTC Final: Aakash Chopra

Indian pace bowlers failed to exploit the favorable conditions in the Ageas Bowl on the third day of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final against New Zealand. The bowlers Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammad Shami got only two wickets and failed to consistently hit the good line and lengths. Cricketer-turned-commenter Simon Doull felt India do not have a genuine swing bowler who could have exploited the conditions and got wickets in a cluster.

Former India opening batter Aakash Chopra feels the team dearly missed Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Interestingly, the 31-year-old is one of the best exponents of swing in the country and has a genuine ability to prodigiously swing the ball both ways. Chopra feels Kumar could have been perfect in Southampton and would have troubled the Kiwis.

With the entire day four being washed off due to rain, the WTC Final is poised delicately with New Zealand scoring 101 runs and losing two wickets in reply to India’s 217. Now two days are left in the marquee clash with June 23 being the reserve day.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, the former opening batter firmly felt Kumar was being missed by the Indians. “India is definitely missing Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He has three special aspects as well. Firstly, he does magic with the new ball. Secondly, he bowls the long spells. And the third thing is that he can bat as well. He could have done everything for Team India.”

Bhuvneshwar Kumar would have been in perfect in the swinging conditions reckons Aakash Chopra

The 43-year-old also compared the New Zealand bowlers to India pacers on how they could generate swing consistently by releasing the ball due to good action. Apparently of the Kiwi bowlers, Colin de Grandhomme bowled the most inswingers and outswingers as compared to the other four bowlers. Chopra also felt only Sharma could get a bit of swing and Bumrah and Shami didn’t get anything.

“Swinging conditions can only be utilized if the ball leaves your hand accordingly. We saw Colin de Grandhomme getting a lot of swing, then Southee, Jamieson, and Trent Boult, Ishant Sharma is still somewhere close but the other two are far behind. They don’t swing the ball, they are seam bowlers,” Chopra added.