On Tuesday, the BCCI issued a press release, where Jasprit Bumrah was excluded from the IND vs ENG ODIs, despite featuring in the squad for the 3rd match, initially. Now, that only goes on to suggest that the pacer is far from 100% fitness. Then in the past, various reports have also gone on to claim that Bumrah would only be available for the playoffs in the Champions Trophy, if India does manage to reach that far in the tournament.
Jasprit Bumrah & Mohammed Shami Should be Rested
That puts India on a sticky turf, given Mohammed Shami‘s fitness has been questionable too. Although he played in two T20Is against England, but that just does not give enough confidence to an average fan, that he can sustain the rigours of 50-over cricket, yet. So, what pacers do India actually look at, as backups?
Well, all the teams can make final changes in their squad till Feb 11, and this should be a golden opportunity for us to have other pacers take up the responsibility of delivering in the Champions Trophy — and give our best men — Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami some more rest.
Harshit Rana or Prasidh Krishna?
Firstly, without any iota of doubt, Mohammed Siraj comes in the squad as the leader of the pack. He along with Arshdeep Singh can be lethal in the starting of the match, as well as death overs. The former World No. 1 bowler has 71 wickets in 44 matches at an average of 24. On slow and low Dubai wickets, he could be a tough nut to crack.
For now, India has four pacers in the squad, including Hardik Pandya.. so then, the second replacement in the squad could be that of Prasidh Krishna. The Karnataka man is a regular choice for white-ball cricket, but has a decent record — where he has picked up 29 wickets in 17 matches. His height could come in as a great blessing for the team, and could trouble all batsmen alike. In fact, in his last match for India, the Sydney Test, he picked up 7 wickets.
Mohammed Siraj Comes in for Sure, Maybe Shardul Thakur?
Lastly, if India wants some more variety, someone like a Harshit Rana also can be an option. In his only T20I appearance for India, he showed he can rake speeds over 150 kmph, and has a knack to pick up wickets too. So that could be a decent pick too. If India really wants to look out of the box, that gives than a batting option too, Shardul Thakur might just make the cut.
The Mumbai cricketer has been in fine nick in domestic competitions this year. In the Ranji Trophy he has scored 381 runs in seven matches, at an average of 47, including a ton and three fifties. To go with that, he has 24 wickets too, at an average of 23.
India squad for Champions Trophy: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja.
