Cape of ‘Confusion’

Ishant’s restrictive bowling or Umesh’s attacking instinct?

Ishant Sharma’s immense experience might gain precedence over Umesh Yadav’s classical outswingers when Indian team management zeroes in on an injured Mohammed Siraj’s replacement for the series-deciding final Test against South Africa.

Dravid had said that it is difficult to commit whether Siraj will get fit in next few days as hamstring injuries don’t heal that easily.

In this backdrop, India have two options for the Newlands Test starting January 11. One is 33-yearold Ishant, who hasn’t been in the best of forms but has experience of more than 100 Tests and is a workhorse. The other is 34-year old Umesh, who has 51 Tests under his belt and in the recent past has been a better performer than Ishant, who seemed to have also lost out on a bit of pace with age catching up.

However both Dravid and skipper Virat Kohli, who everyone expects would make a comeback from his back injury in the final game, may prefer the lanky Delhi speedster for multiple reasons. One of the biggest reasons could be his near 6 feet 3 and half inch height, which might help in creating those awkward lengths for the Proteas batters, something that the home team pacers like Marco Jansen and Duanne Olivier have enjoyed.

Even former chairman of selectors MSK Prasad agreed that Ishant should be the choice. (Agencies)