4 min readUpdated: Aug 13, 2026 02:40 PM IST
With Jasprit Bumrah unavailable, India’s pace attack in Sri Lanka for the upcoming two-Test series starting in Galle on Saturday will have a relatively inexperienced look beyond Mohammed Siraj, with Prasidh Krishna having played only seven Tests and Gurnoor Brar and Auqib Nabi yet to make their debuts. Bowling coach Morne Morkel, however, sounded excited by the challenge and believed the attack had the skill to succeed.
“I think it’s exciting. All these guys have come a long way with their skill. Not so long ago in the A side, Gurnoor (Brar) was very successful, so he knows, sort of, he’s got an idea about the conditions. Prasidh, Siraj, they’ve played a lot of cricket back home, where it’s also tough bowling conditions,” Morkel told reporters on Thursday.
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“I think coming here, our skill is there, the planning will be there, but the biggest challenge will be the heat and humidity. The ball will go softer after 20-35 overs. Expect that. But what is our next step? To be street-smart in terms of how we’re going to use the crease, how we’re going to use our short ball. All those conditions and all those sort of situations we need to be able to sum up quite quickly. And then execute it with a lot of energy and go into those areas,” the former South African pacer added.
Apart from the four-man pace attack, India also have four quality spin options in Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Manav Suthar and Saransh Jain, giving them plenty of flexibility in the conditions expected in Sri Lanka. Morkel believed each spinner brought something different and said the attack had enough skill to take 20 wickets, with the final call depending on how captain Shubman Gill wants to use them.
“Kuldeep is there. He’s an attacking sort of bowler for us. Jadeja, his experience and class, we can’t look past him. I think for us, they’re all different in their way. One turns a bit more; one is slightly more accurate. I don’t think it’s a massive concern for us (on the possibility of playing three spinners). It’s just how Shubman (Gill) is going to use those guys at certain times. But yeah, in terms of skill, they’ve got the skill there to get the 20 wickets for us.”
“Traditionally, if you look at the venue, the stats and how it’s been played out, that’s sort of the way to go (playing three spinners). I think the way that we go with our spin bowling attack, our spinners, it’s a very attacking option. You can create pressure with seam from one side and always allow yourself with spin to operate from the other end. It looked like a good surface, and I think as the Test match will go on, something will start to happen. For us, we’ve prepared basically for all that can come our way,” Morkel added.
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Morkel also spoke about the challenges of bowling with the Kookaburra ball, admitting it would be a challenge for the side, which hasn’t played a lot of Test cricket in recent months.“The Kookaburra ball, once it gets softer. How we can stack up overs together with intensity and create that pressure. We haven’t played a lot of red-ball cricket in the last couple of months, and going back into that is going to be a challenge. That’s something I’m quite excited about, and we’re quite excited to see how these guys can stand up and form those partnerships and create that pressure,” he said.