Robin Uthappa says India has tried several options but has yet to find a third pacer to compliment Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. Prasidh Krishna and Akash Deep have been offered opportunities, but neither have been able to secure their positions. He also questioned India’s composition following their 30-run defeat against South Africa in the first Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata last week.
According to Uthappa, opposition teams are now better prepared to tour India than in the past. He advised the Indian team to develop better strategies for the future, as they are now in a transition phase.
“Visiting teams play lesser cricket than India and have far more time for preparation. There is too much cricket happening. You are going with one size fits all and trying to produce results. There needs to be a sense of realism about the goal for the next two years. Yes, you want to get to the WTC final, but is this team ready to get there? Who is really effective outside of Bumrah and Siraj? We are missing a third pacer. They are trying out a bunch of guys. In all honesty, we don’t have a confirmed third fast bowler,” he said on his YouTube channel.
Robin Uthappa also argues that India’s lack of dedicated test centres is hindering its chances of gaining a competitive advantage. He recalled Virat Kohli discussing the need for Test centres while he was captain of the Indian squad.
“Spinners are not going to be as effective abroad and are going to be fillers. India don’t have Test centres as a country. You are randomly playing Tests everywhere and trying to produce results in your favor. That takes away from the larger goal. If you have Test centres, you can curate home advantage based on the visiting team. India are not doing that. Virat spoke of this when he also captained and India are missing home advantage by playing at random venues,” Robin Uthappa explained.
Robin Uthappa says Australia start behind as England hold the upper hand in upcoming Ashes
Uthappa also argues that India’s lack of dedicated test centres is hindering its chances of gaining a competitive advantage. He recalled Virat Kohli discussing the need for Test centres while he was captain of the Indian squad.
“There’s not a lot separating the top four-five teams in Test cricket at the moment. All of them are filling up slots and the team that feels like they have most of their pieces in place is South Africa. In the Ashes, I think Australia start from behind and England have the upper hand. England’s batting is stronger, but they might suffer in the bowling.”
Robin Uthappa
