New Delhi: Not withstanding a difficult day in office for India's fast bowlers against Australia, former paceman Ajit Agarkar feels the new-ball attack of Varun Aaron and Mohammad Shami looked good even though they let it slip against David Warner in "tough conditions".
"To start off with Aaron and Shami are good. Aaron had impressed in England and also bowled well in the tour game. So he has progressed well so far. And as far as Shami is concerned, he is quite steady. So the Indian new-ball attack looks good with them," Agarkar, who has turned cricket expert with ESPNcricinfo's online video show 'Match Point', told PTI.
Aaron and Shami shared two wickets apiece as Australia rode on David Warner's 145 to post 354 for six on the opening day and Agarkar opined that apart from missing a trick or two, the duo was impressive.
"Once Bhuvneshwar Kumar was injured this was the pace attack that was my choice as well. Not because Umesh (Yadav) is bowling badly, I think he has been in good form, but these three in recent times have bowled well in tandem. But I would have liked Shami and Aaron to get their line right early morning. Especially against Warner (David), they let it slip a bit. Tough conditions to bowl but could have done better with the new ball," he said.
The bowling was also well supported by Ishant Sharma, who drew first blood by sending opener Chris Rogers back to the pavilion early, and Agarkar said that the lanky pacer has been the pick in the last 6-8 months.
"Ishant has been the pick in the last 6-8 months that he has returned to the international stage. On all the overseas tours, whether you take New Zealand, England or South Africa, he bowled well. So he seems to have started to lead the attack a bit more, considering the kind of experience he has. He looked to be the most effective of the bowlers till towards the end of the day when he looked a bit tired," he said.
Agarkar, who represented India in 26 Tests and 191 ODIs during his decade-long career, was also impressed with Karn Sharma's debut after the leg-spinner picked up the opening day centurion.
"You need a spinner in Adelaide, where the wicket is on the slower side unlike any other Australian wicket. You want to have a spinner to have some sort of control in the game and I think the Karn picked up the most crucial wicket of the day in David Warner," said Agarkar.
