Only six months ago, at their home World Cup, India’s new ball bowlers were the talk of the town.
With the T20 World Cup little more than a month away, India is concerned about their new-ball bowlers, with Mohammed Shami out injured and Mohammed Siraj struggling for form in the IPL.
As things stand, India’s only hope in the pace department is Jasprit Bumrah, the only player with an X-factor attached to his name.
In the coming days, India’s selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, must name a provisional 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup, which will be held in the United States and the Caribbean in June.
While they do have some difficult decisions to make in terms of who to leave out of the batting and wicketkeeping lineups, it is in the bowling department that India must make critical decisions, particularly in terms of attacking structure.
Spinners appear to have few options, with Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravi Bishnoi standing out.
However, India is having problems with its pace battery. For example, after Bhuvneshwar Kumar dropped out of the Powerplay overs, India relied on Shami and Siraj for wickets.
With Shami out injured and T20s not Siraj’s forte, India has turned their attention to left-arm seamers Arshdeep Singh and Khaleel Ahmed for the role.
Since Bhuvneshwar fell out of contention, India has been looking at Deepak Chahar as an ideal option to bowl in the Powerplay, allowing them to use Bumrah primarily in the second half of the innings.
But, with Chahar missing matches and struggling with a niggle during the IPL, India has been forced to look at fringe players.
Although Arshdeep, who has been a part of the T20 squad since the last World Cup, has struggled in international cricket recently, he is showing signs of returning to form in the IPL.
Aside from his ability to swing the new ball, particularly to the right-hander, Arshdeep is also known for bowling at the death.
Similarly, Khaleel, who had an impressive domestic season, is regarded as a viable option. Between 2018 and 2019, he was a member of the Indian white-ball teams and regarded as a promising prospect.
However, as his limitations became apparent, he was relegated to domestic duties. It is understood that, in addition to increasing his pace, Ahmed has returned to the IPL with more variations in his arsenal, including slower balls that have proven difficult to pick.
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Given these struggles, it’s perplexing why Umran Malik, whose pace could be useful in the format, wasn’t developed with the T20 World Cup in mind. The 24-year-old, who was regarded as an exciting prospect, has not played a T20I since February 2023 or an ODI since July 2023. Apart from spinners, out-and-out pacers like Umran are what other teams rely on in the middle overs because they can remove conditions from the equation.
South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Pakistan have an advantage on that front with players like Anrich Nortje, Mark Wood, Lockie Ferguson, and Haris Rauf. And, given their dwindling pace bowling resources, it’s puzzling why India hasn’t made full use of Umran.
Mayank Yadav of Lucknow Super Giants, who has impressed everyone with his pace, will have to wait for his chance because the selectors want him to go through the domestic grind first.
This means that in the middle overs, India will be heavily reliant on Kuldeep as their attacking force. Given these limitations, India’s nucleus will revolve around their batting lineup.
In the past, even for T20 World Cups, India’s squad was largely built around their bowling. Given their bowling, India’s strategy is to play defensively with the ball while being aggressive with their batting unit.
It is something India has been doing in T20Is recently, albeit with different batting personnel. With senior, experienced players in their ranks whose strike rates are unlikely to cause opposition teams sleepless nights, the lingering question is whether this formula will work, as one must always go for extra runs to compensate for the composition of the attack.
