Jasprit Bumrah’s use of bowlers was far better than Rohit Sharma: Simon Katich

Former Australia cricketer Simon Katich feels that Jasprit Bumrah’s use of his bowlers was far superior to Rohit Sharma in Adelaide. Notably, Bumrah was praised for his captaincy in Perth in the absence of Rohit as India won the match by 295 runs.

However, captain Rohit failed to keep the team’s winning momentum going under his leadership as India lost the second Test by ten wickets allowing Australia to make a comeback in the series. Recently, Katich compared the captaincy styles of both Rohit and Bumrah and mentioned that Bumrah’s rotation of his bowlers was far superior to Rohit.

“When you compare the two results, obviously, in Perth, Rohit Sharma missed out. And I thought Bumrah’s captaincy, and particularly, the use of his bowlers in the length that they bowled, was far superior to what we saw in Adelaide. In Perth late on Day 1 when Australia were 7/67, India attacked the stumps and bowled much fuller and straighter lengths,” Katich said on the ‘Around the Wicket’ podcast.

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Further speaking ahead, Katich said that Rohit needs to be a bit more proactive with his fast bowlers and needs to give them valuable feedback from behind the stumps.

“Whereas, when you look at the pitch map for Adelaide, on the night of Day 1, they were a lot shorter and wider, and around the 7-8 meter mark. So they missed a trick. Rohit Sharma was at first slip; he saw it all unfold. He needs to be a bit more proactive with his quicks when that’s happening. Because Australia got out of jail in that session only being one down and as a result, went on to win the Test,” he added.

India’s WTC final hopes hang in balance

Meanwhile, India’s World Test Championship (WTC) final qualification chances have taken a massive hit after their ten-wicket loss in the pink ball Test. The Rohit Sharma-led side needs to win the ongoing series by a margin of 3-1 or 4-1 to qualify for their third consecutive final.

After the Adelaide loss, India are now on the third spot in the WTC standings for the 2023-25 cycle with nine wins from 16 matches having a points percentage of 57.29%. On the other hand, Australia continue to be on the second spot having percentage of 60.71%. Meanwhile, South Africa are just one win away from qualifying for the summit clash sitting comfortably on the top of the standings having a points percentage of 63.33%.