- Commissioner’s statement on Ventura, Marte
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: Masters champion ‘felt so vulnerable’ in final
- Arron Fletcher Wins 2017 WSOP International Circuit Marrakech Main Event ($140,224)
- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
- Moncada No. 1 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Braves land 2 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Kingery makes MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- New Zealand wrap up 2-0 after Bangladesh implosion
- Mathews, Pradeep, Gunathilaka to return to Sri Lanka
- Elliott hopes for rain for Poli
Strike rate is for bowlers in Tests – Kumble
- Updated: September 28, 2016
India’s coach Anil Kumble has once again thrown his weight firmly behind Cheteshwar Pujara. Speaking strongly two days after Virat Kohli had verified former selector Sandeep Patil’s revelation that the team management had spoken to Pujara about his strike rate, Kumble said strike rate was relevant for bowlers in Test cricket, not batsmen. He went to the extent of saying he was satisfied with Pujara’s performance in the West Indies even though he was dropped for Rohit Sharma in the third Test.
On slow pitches against a pretty defensive West Indies attack and field-sets Pujara scored 16 off 67 in Antigua and was run-out for 46 off 159 balls in Kingston before he was dropped. A top-order collapse resulted in his return to the side for the fourth Test, and India have played both Pujara and Rohit in the two Tests since then.
“Even I’m a bit old-fashioned,” Kumble said when a journalist asked him about strike rates in Tests. “I know there is a lot of strike rate in the last eight years after the advent of T20. As far as I was playing, in Test cricket strike rates were mostly talked about for bowlers and not for batsmen. That’s how I like to look at it. In a team you need different characters, different quality players. Players whose skill sets are suited to different challenges that happen in a Test match. Because we’ve seen that that’s what happens in …
