India’s R Ashwin came in for high praise from former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming who on Wednesday described the ace spinner as a “good student” of the game and was impressed with the way he works on creating new deliveries.
Ashwin has been one of India’s prime performers with 11 wickets from five games at an economy rate of less than four in the ongoing World Cup. “I have always been impressed with Ashwin as he is such a good student of the game with great work ethic. look at the manner in which he creates a new delivery. He loves the game, thinks very hard, he is in a way cricket tragic, statistically motivated,” Fleming said during a promotional event of the World Cup.
“He needs confidence from the team and he gets that with seam bowlers taking wickets upfront. That enables him to attack,” said Fleming, who has also been Ashwin’s coach at IPl team Chennai Super Kings.
It was at CSK, in 2013 that Mohit Sharma's emergence started and no wonder Fleming is happy with his development. "I have seen Mohit's development closely and his work with Andy Bichel (CSK bowling coach) has been impressive. He started with good performance against Pakistan, he has got confidence. Indian pacers are now all in 140 kmph to 145 kmph mark and they are relishing bowling at that pace," he said.
Praise for Shami, Umesh
New Delhi: Impressed by Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav’s “mature performance” in the ongoing cricket World Cup, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar feels the duo are on the path to become “world-class” bowlers and have been the key to India’s success in the tournament.
The pace duo shared four wickets between themselves as India humbled Ireland by eight wickets in their previous league encounter to register nine consecutive World Cup wins and also confirm their top spot going into the quarter-finals.
India have also had the distinction of bowling their opponents out in all the five outings and Akhtar is all praise for the pace duo’s contribution. “50 wickets in 5 matches is an incredible task. I’m glad to see such matured performances from Shami and Umesh in all the matches and I believe its not long before they are regarded as world-class bowlers,” Akhtar said.
Shami has bagged 12 wickets from four matches in the tournament so far. Umesh, on the other hand, has bagged seven scalps from five games.
Akhtar said it’s a treat to watch the duo bowl. “It is truly a joy to watch them bowl so beautifully and enjoy their cricket.”
India surprise Archer
New Delhi: Celebrated author Jeffrey Archer, an avid cricket follower, says the Indian team’s performance in the initial matches of the ongoing World Cup has surprised him and if they continue with this form they stand a good chance of retaining the trophy.
“I think the two teams to watch in the World Cup are Australia and New Zealand, but I must confess that the Indian team has surprised me,” the British author, who was in India for the release of his book ‘Mightier than the Sword’, said. “It certainly wasn’t the team I watched six months ago, although exactly the same players are turning up on the pitch. If they play as they have in the first four matches, they must have a serious chance of retaining the trophy,” he said.