Cheteshwar Pujara on Best Bowler for Australia in BGT 2024: The series is currently level at 1-1 after India achieved a draw in the third Test in Brisbane. Boxing Day Test (IND vs AUS Boxing Day Test) will start on 26th December at the prestigious Melbourne Cricket Ground. Earlier, according to a Star Sports report, veteran batsman Cheteshwar Pujara praised fast bowler Mitchell Starc and said that the 34-year-old Starc has been the “best bowler” for Australia in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series. Starc made his Test cricket debut against New Zealand in 2011. 34-year-old Starc took part in 92 Test matches and 176 innings, taking 372 wickets at an economy rate of 3.42.
The Australian fast bowler has performed brilliantly against India, taking 62 wickets after playing 21 Test matches against them. In the current BGT series, Starc has taken 14 wickets at an average of 22.86. He is currently the second highest wicket taker in the series after Bumrah. In a special conversation with Star Sports, Pujara said that Starc has improved a lot in the last 1.5 years.
“He has been the best bowler for them in this series. And the way Mitchell Starc has played in the last 1-1.5 years, he has improved a lot. And he has a lot of potential. If I talk about my personal experience, So when he played in the last series in 2018 or 2021, I felt that if he played against me, I would score runs. And now, when he is playing in this series, it seems that he will take wickets. ,” Pujara said in a release issued by Star Sports. He said that the Australian fast bowler has increased his line length and accuracy while bowling.
He said, “So what is the difference? The difference is that his line length, his accuracy has increased a lot. He is bowling very less loose balls. He is playing on the stumps. Every ball is coming to a good length spot. He is getting swing. So the change he has brought in his game has made him a different player and he looks more dangerous than Cummins and Hazlewood. “Pujara further said that Starc got tired in the last part of the innings. Which helps the lower batting order to score runs.
“So we have to keep an eye on his game, especially in the new matches. In the first five overs, in his first spell, he has taken the most wickets. So if there is good batting in the first five overs, he may get more wickets in the second or third Bring in the spells. That’s why our top order batsmen have never played in the third or fourth spells. And we have seen that. That when Bumrah and Akash were batting, when Mitchell Starc was bowling, they were not that effective, so they have to play their new game well,” he concluded.
Earlier last week, Australia made some changes to their team in response to the absence of Josh Hazlewood and concerns at the top of the order. The host team has included Beau Webster, Jhye Richardson and Sam Konstas in the team before the fourth Test match of the series.
Hazlewood was ruled out of the second Adelaide Test after suffering a minor injury in the Perth Test, but returned for the third match in Brisbane, but suffered a calf strain during the warm-up on the fourth day. He bowled one over and left the field for scans, which confirmed the severity of his injury, after which he was ruled out of the series. Hazlewood took five wickets in the first Test in Perth, including four in the first innings. Scott Boland can replace Hazlewood in Australia’s playing eleven for the fourth Test starting on December 26 at the MCG.
India team: Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja. , Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Australia team: Pat Cummins (capt), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstanz, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc. , Beau Webster.
