Saikiran Uppuluri
Saikiran Uppuluri
With just two months remaining until the T20 World Cup, India’s pace bowling reserves for the marquee tournament remain worryingly thin. Apart from the undisputed lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah, the management seems unsure about who the second pacer in the XI should be. Forget about settling on the third and fourth options!
Such is the sorry state of India’s pace bowling stocks in the shortest format that all-rounder Hardik Pandya is being viewed as the potential second-best option with the ball, provided he remains fully fit. For a global powerhouse of India’s stature, having to rely so heavily on Pandya’s hit-the-deck bowling is far from ideal.
It’s baffling that despite the IPL being staged year after year, providing a premier platform to unearth new pace talent, the Indian team management has been unable to identify and groom quality prospects in this department for T20 cricket. With time running out, the lacklustre pace reserve may come back to haunt India’s blockbuster T20 World Cup campaign.
