Tail-enders like Jasprit Bumrah can be groomed into very good all-rounders: Yograj Singh

Former Indian cricketer Yograj Singh has stated that the Indian team should make all-rounders out of its bowlers to win more games, adding that the Sourav Ganguly era had batters and bowlers who could contribute in each other's departments.  

Speaking exclusively on InsideSport, Yograj also asserted that Team India, led by Shubman Gill, could’ve won the five-match Test series by 3-2 or 5-0 had the tail-enders put up a decent batting effort in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.

“Even in England, we could have won 5-0 if Arshdeep was there in the squad. We could have won the series 3-2, had we not lost at Lord’s by 21 runs. They (the tail-enders) could not win it, they could not achieve it, because we never give them a chance with the bat,” Yograj Singh told InsideSport.

“If we can make all-rounders (out of bowlers), then our team, we can once again be like a Sourav Ganguly team. What Sourav did when he was captain, he made a No.7 ranked team into No.1 team, in just about five years time,” he added.

“Then we destroyed the team after 2011. In that team, you had Yuvi, Viru, Sachin and Sourav who could bowl, these guys picked up 100-100 wickets. We should tell our batsmen that, ‘Tum log ball daalo yaar’. Bowl to the tailenders for an hour,” he added. He also highlighted the issue of the all-rounders,” he noted.

Furthermore, Yograj also asserted that tail-enders like Jasprit Bumrah can be groomed into very good all-rounders, adding that they need to bat for a few hours daily in the nets to improve their batting skills.

“The problem with the Indian squad, at the moment, is that we are not looking to make the bowlers into all-rounders. Kapil Dev was never given batting in the nets, I was yelling at the top of my voice, ‘Kapil ko batting karao’. At that time, he used to come in at No.11, score 70-80 runs, so no one was looking ahead,” he continued.

“Nowadays, Bumrah and all these bowlers, what you call them tail enders, I don’t. You are not looking ahead that they can be groomed into very very good all-rounders. If you work with them, make them bat in the nets for 1-2 hours daily after the session, I think that could be the best thing that could happen,” Yograj concluded.

Stay updated with the latest cricket news, match insights, and exclusive updates at BetBarter and download the BetBarter app to start betting today!