East Zone speedster Mukesh Kumar detailed how disciplined length bowling, ball maintenance, and stump-to-stump attack helped restrict South Zone batters on Day 3 of the Duleep Trophy final.
East Zone pacer Mukesh Kumar explained that his strategy on a fresh red-soil surface at the MAC Stadium during the Duleep Trophy final was to stay consistent, bowl dot balls, and force the batters into taking risks.
While South Zone fast bowlers struggled with consistency and resorted to ineffective short-pitched deliveries on the opening day, Mukesh and Mohammed Shami focused on attacking the stumps, grabbing four of the six wickets to fall on day three.
Refraining from bowling too full to avoid leaking runs, the Bengal pacer highlighted the importance of pulling back the length slightly on the red soil.
"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," Mukesh said.
Mukesh also stressed the necessity of maintaining the ball carefully to extract reverse swing and extra movement on the surface.
"Speaking for myself, the harder I pound the deck and hit the seam, the more the ball will kick, regardless of the wicket. The other part is working on the ball — applying sweat repeatedly, polishing it, and preparing it for reverse swing. We worked on that, and it gave us movement," he noted.
Addressing their specific plan against South Zone's Devdutt Padikkal, who arrived into the fixture after scoring two centuries in Sri Lanka, Mukesh outlined a tight stump-to-stump line to prevent width.
"It was to bowl stump-to-stump because we knew he was coming after scoring two centuries in Sri Lanka. On wickets like this, if you offer width to batters, runs will leak. Our plan as fast bowlers was to stay as consistent as possible and bowl dot balls, letting them take the risks. They would try to force the pace and get out because they need to score runs," Mukesh concluded.
Reporting sourced from The Hindu Cricket. Photo courtesy The Hindu Cricket.