Like all other things, the Indian cricket team also has undergone a transformation in recent times. As clichéd and stereotypical as it might sound, there was an era when the Indian pacers were just the passer-byes, whose overs were merely used as a getaway strategy by the captain to ensure that the ball loses some of its shine and accordingly the spinners could be inducted into the attack then. This gave the opposition a freeway head-start right from the very beginning, allowing them to build a formidable base with little threat over their top order being dismantled; or even troubled to a significant extent. Times have changed though.
And it’s not a new aspect to be flabbergasted about altogether. It takes time to hone a cultural change. It takes further dedication to completely develop it into a stellar force to reckon with. The Indian team management has been successful in doing so patiently over a course of time, and particularly this being a World Cup year; with the WT20 being eagerly awaited by the masses, one can just wonder about how brilliant a sight would it present to be when a flurry of Indian quickies would run up to the crease in the scenic stadiums of Australia and hit the deck hard with their inciting pace only for the leather to zip past the batsman and carve a credible impact upon them regarding the sort of qualitative deliveries that they can expect from the Indian fast bowlers who would make the cut to the final XV that will compete in the tournament.
Firstly, unless injuries find a way or any unfortunate circumstance acts as an obstacle in front of Jasprit Bumrah, the 26-year-old is undoubtedly going to be an absolute starter for the side in the World Cup. Bumrah has paved his way into international cricket and stardom through his heroics in the shortest format of the game during the IPL, and the vast array of variations along with the sheer genius that he possesses even whilst delivering the conventional set of deliveries is incredibly laudable. Accordingly, there are little doubts regarding him featuring in the XI in Australia.
However, what is particularly pleasing, and encouraging from the Indian team’s perspective is the fact that the second rungs of pacers are taking rapid strides to make an impact in some way or the other.
Deepak Chahar made waves with his brilliant six-fer in the T20I against Bangladesh, but Chahar’s development dates back to the past two IPL seasons where he consistently delivered breakthroughs in the first six overs to eventually win over the trust of the national selectors and the team management who now seem to be showing enough trust on the man to deliver well in the T20Is.
However, a stress fracture on his back means that the bowler would possibly be out of action until the IPL.
This allowed the team to take chances with the duo of Shardul Thakur and Navdeep Saini, and both of them haven’t disappointed either. Thakur has been often looked down upon due to his tendency to leak away runs but anyone who must have noticed his performances in the IPL for the CSK and someone who is not entirely riding the wave of perceptions can vouch for the fact that Thakur is a much more developed bowler when it comes to the T20s. He has the knuckle-ball variation up his sleeve, and also the other slower deliveries that assist him in the death overs. He can maintain a good line and length in the initial few overs and also get the ball to move away from the right-hander after pitching; accordingly notching a wicket early on in the match. Above all, Thakur is someone who surely knows how to work with his willow whenever asked for and hence can be a dependent lower-middle order batsman, a criterion which this management seems to be keen on finding a solution for.
Navdeep Saini presents another peculiar situation for the team. For a man who can consistently clock pace of 140-150 kmph, Saini has for some reason or the other not really looked like a convincing option to feature in the WT20 until some time ago. However, what tilts the factors in his favor is the fact that Saini is someone who can deliver the ball at that hard, back of the length areas persistently at a very quick pace. This can make facing him a difficult task for batsmen in Australia considering the pitches over there would carry extra bounce and have a tinge of zipping influence too. Saini has also nurtured an ability to deliver in-swinging yorkers, which in some ways makes his case stronger as India would crave for an extremely reliable death bowler if Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s is unable to hold up his fitness.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has endured a turbulent time in recent months, with a sports hernia now keeping him out of cricketing action for the time being. Often a mainstay in the team, Bhuvneshwar has missed quite a lot of matches due to such frustrating injuries in the past year or so and would be edging to return to the fold so that he can partner his trusted aide and ally, Jasprit Bumrah in the back end of the innings. All that Bhuvneshwar would hope for is a long stretch of injury-free match practice to keep him in the groove and also battle the new competitors that have emerged during his time on the sidelines. However, a fit Bhuvneshwar Kumar should undoubtedly walk into the Indian T20I team; and would so in most situations too.
Mohammed Shami is being given a look-in the T20I side in the past few series’ too. Maybe, it is to compensate first due to Bumrah’s injury and now Bhuvneshwar’s issue with the sports hernia. Shami has never been an out and out T20 sort of bowler in his career, but he certainly is a wicket-taking option up front and could be a bankable force to depend upon in the fag end of the innings. Whether he makes his way into the team solely due to his seniority or wins his place in the shortest format by replicating his exemplary outings from the other two formats remains to be seen.
Until then, the captain, coach and the entire Indian cricketing circle could only acclaim the vast variety of pacers that the team has inducted into its pool before finalizing upon the batch that would travel with the team to Australia later this year!
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