Duleep Trophy final | Our plan as fast bowlers was to let the batters take the risks: East pacer Mukesh Kumar
East Zone pacer Mukesh Kumar discusses the tactical approach used by his team to secure wickets during the Duleep Trophy final. He emphasizes the importance of bowling stump-to-stump and hitting the deck hard on red-soil pitches to induce movement.
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Provides insight into professional cricket strategy and the technical adjustments required for different pitch conditions.
East Zone pacer Mukesh Kumar felt that there was enough on the surface for the quicks to keep the batters honest, provided they had the right tactics.
Despite bowling on a fresh MAC Stadium pitch on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy final, the South Zone fast bowlers were inconsistent and resorted to short-pitched stuff without much success.
In contrast, Mukesh and Mohammed Shami attacked the stumps and scalped four of the six wickets to fall on day three.
“I didn’t pitch it too full here. If I had bowled full, it would have invited cover drives and similar shots. So, pulling the length back slightly to back-of-a-length on this red soil [was important]. If you hit the deck hard and put effort into it, the ball kicks. We worked on that,” said Mukesh.
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