'Siraj can't expect Bumrah to deliver every time, he must stand up; will pick Prasidh over Arshdeep': Paras Mhambrey

Hindustan Times

5 hours ago

Former India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey is no stranger to transitions in Indian Test sides. He himself was part of the transition lot in 1996 when India toured England and handed debuts to as many as six youngsters in the three-match series. Mhambrey was part of the first lot, along with Venkatesh Prasad, Sunil Joshi and Vikram Rathour, to get their Test caps in the first match in Birmingham. Mhambrey played only one more Test and three ODIs after that but he went on to become one of the greats of Mumbai cricket, winning five titles in his tenure.
The right-arm medium pacer took up coaching after announcing retirement and immediately succeeded in domestic cricket with Bengal. He then went on to coach the India A team and the India U19 team and worked with Rahul Dravid at the NCA before the legendary cricketer appointed him as the senior Indian side's bowling coach. During their tenure, India won the T20 World Cup in 2024. A year later, India is facing a massive transition phase in Test cricket.
Shubman Gill has been appointed Test captain after Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and R Ashwin retired. Mohammed Shami has failed to reach the necessary fitness levels for five-day cricket, meaning India has assembled its least experienced Test squad in England since Mhambrey's debut 29 years ago.
Ahead of the first Test in Headingley, Hindustan Times caught up with Mhmabrey to pick his brains.
Exceprts
They must have had a chat with Jasprit Bumrah and asked him what his plans are. They must have taken into consideration what has happened with Bumrah, the moment he went all out in a five-match Test series. Now we know that Bumrah is only fit to play three Tests, so they didn't want to be in a situation where they had two different captains in a big series. Knowing Bumrah, he is very straightforward. He will take everything into consideration in terms of the team first. That's his approach.
You've got to miss Shami's experience, right? Unfortunately, he is not there on the tour. Prior to this, you had three bowlers, experienced bowlers playing together. You have had Shami, Bumrah. You usually had Umesh in between. We played a lot of cricket together then. You don't have that option out here. The second best from here is Mohammed Siraj. He has played 35 (36) Tests. He needs to share the workload with Bumrah. The expectation shouldn't be that only Bumrah will go out and deliver for you. Siraj needs to shoulder that responsibility and do the job for the team because he is the senior-most after Bumrah out here. Someone like Prasidh has only a few Test matches under his belt, and the same is true for Akash Deep. Arsh is on his debut. You don't want to have that pressure on them.
If you just monitor their progress in the IPL, I think they've ticked the right boxes. The right boxes in the sense of, obviously, they played all the games. In terms of the fitness bit, that's a big tick for me. All of them looked in rhythm. They picked up wickets.
If you look at Siraj and Prasidh, the way they're bowled has been very satisfactory. Arsh has always shouldered the new ball responsibly. He's always bowled in one of the toughest phases of the game. He goes in the first powerplay, he goes in the death. So, the experience is there. The Ability to soak in the pressure is there.
He is very disciplined in terms of the way he goes about his stuff. He does his stuff religiously. But honestly, IPL is such a format that you are travelling a lot. It's really very difficult to honestly go there and prepare for Test series and think beyond the IPL. In an ideal scenario, I would love to have that kind of opportunity to kind of mix it between the IPL. But you can't do that. But I have seen him bowl long spells. He was feeling really good about his body and the workload it had gone through leading into the England series.
I am very confident that he is aware of it (what to do). He is an intelligent bowler. He is a smart bowler. So, he must have worked it out very well. But he should not really go away from his strength. And his strength is kind of running it and really hitting the deck. It has worked well for him. England is a very different scenario altogether. So, your venues offer different surfaces. The weather is unpredictable. One day, you will have overcast conditions. The other day will be bright and sunny. So, it is kind of being adaptive.
Yes, you will also have to keep different tactics for different batters. Sometimes you want to go fuller to a particular batter. Sometimes you want to hit that deck and keep the length slightly towards you for a particular batter.
Now, here, the tactical call that you have to make is four seamers or three. Shardul is out there, who makes the job easier because of his batting. Bumrah and Siraj will be your starters for sure. But I believe that you need a little variety in their bowling. So, for the first three Tests, I would like to see Prasidh in the mix. Because purely for the fact that he offers a little different variation to the bowling. You have Bumrah, who swings and skids the ball a little quicker. Siraj is kind of, again, not an out-and-out swing bowler. But, you know, he does use the seem smartly. But I would see someone like Prasidh. He will be able to use the conditions slightly differently. He would be in my XI. With four seamers, you have Shardul, who fits the role. You have Jadeja playing as the long spin option and middle-order batter. Eight, nine, ten, eleven is your out-and-out seam attack. As the series goes on, you might want a different angle. Then, if that's the case, then Arsh fits in. But in case you only want to go with three genuine seamers and Shardul is your fourth option, then I would prefer Prasidh.
It's going to be different. You can say he has played Test cricket but all of them have been as a player. There was no added responsibility. As a captain, you think differently. You don't really think about yourself. You have to start thinking about the other 10 players who are with you. Your involvement in moments is constant. As a player, you have the opportunity to think more about your own game But here you are constantly thinking about the tactical decisions, about the bowlers, about the wickets. You are thinking about how to control the game. When the game is going away from you, you think how do I get it back? This added responsibility is always going to be there. But unless and until you put him in that situation, he will never realise it. I am sure he will find a foothold. He is smart. He has worked all his career so far. He has been around someone like Rohit. He has been with someone like Virat. They are fabulous captains, right? So I am sure he has learned the way they have gone about their captaincy.