Ravichandran Ashwin said that Anshul Kamboj is in the same mould as Zaheer Khan and Jasprit Bumrah. While he didn’t exactly compare him with the legends, Ashwin waxed lyrical about Kamboj’s effectiveness and his ability to bowl according to plans. We were all excited when the Indian management fast-tracked Kamboj, even ahead of Harshit Rana, in the England tour. He was handed his debut and bowled alongside the likes of Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.
Kamboj’s challenging India debut
But it wasn’t a debut to remember. Of the six-bowler attack, only one was used less than Anshul Kamboj. Shubman Gill, the captain, trusted him so much that he gave him the new ball ahead of Siraj. We all thought that was a decent plan, since Kamboj is a specialist in finding movement off the pitch and Siraj can be a surprising option as first change. But it didn’t quite work out. Kamboj looked undercooked and underconfident, lacking skills to trouble the set Bazball batters.
What made matter worse for Kamboj was his speeds of 120s. At one point, people thought he may not be fully fit. After all, we saw him touching 135 kmph in the IPL 2025 for the Chennai Super Kings. A campaign where he managed eight wickets at an SR of 8.00. While Kamboj did get Ben Duckett out, India were massively under the pump in that game in Manchester. Thanks to huge hundreds by Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, India saved the Test but questions lingered on Kamboj’s selection.
BCCI ignores Kamboj for India A
Regardless, now an Indian international, Kamboj should’ve been given more chances in and around the Indian team. It was a great news that Kamboj and several other pacers attended a camp at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Centre of Excellence. However, the Haryana pacer, who took a ten-wicket innings in a Ranji Trophy game last year, has been ignored in the recently announced India A squad.
India A is set to host Australia A for two four-day games but Kamboj isn’t part of the squad, which is a surprise considering he just recently represented the country. You need to give him more chances to shine. While he is currently playing the Duleep Trophy, the BCCI opted to choose Yash Thakur and Gurnoor Brar as young pacers alongside veterans Prasidh Krishna and Khaleel Ahmed.
Now, it is ever so important for Kamboj to have a solid performance in the Ranji Trophy. Last season, he did terrifically, taking 34 scalps at an SR of 29.00 for Haryana. He needs another great season to silence the critics and to tell BCCI that they did the right thing to show faith in him.
India A squad vs Australia A (2 4-day games)
Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhimanyu Easwaran, N Jagadeesan (WK), Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel (VC & WK), Devdutt Padikkal, Harsh Dubey, Ayush Badoni, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tanush Kotian, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Khaleel Ahmed, Manav Suthar, Yash Thakur
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