Ever since Jasprit Bumrah, India’s pace spearhead, has been troubled by a back injury, there have been question marks over his participation in the upcoming Champions Trophy. By the looks of it, Bumrah could even miss out on the ICC event, leaving a massive hole in the bowling line-up. Mohammed Shami’s likely return to the 50-over squad would boost India’s confidence, but in Bumrah’s absence, who are India’s pace-bowling options? Let’s take a deep dive to analyse the contenders for that slot, provided the Indian selectors don’t take a risk with Bumrah.
Harshit Rana
The tall fast bowler possesses good pace, hits the deck hard and has a variation or two. Harshit ended up with 19 wickets in the 2024 IPL at an average of 20.16. He also snared 10 wickets at an average of 18 in the previous season’s List-A cricket and has been picked for forthcoming T20Is against England.
Despite having some raw potential, including six-hitting abilities down the order, Harshit probably needs to work on improving his control. In the recently concluded Test series in Australia, he also struggled to bowl the ‘heavy ball’ during his later spells. Harshit still has a decent chance of making it to the squad as Gautam Gambhir, the current head coach, seems to prefer his skill set.
Prasidh Krishna
Prasidh Krishna was Harshit’s direct competitor in Australia. Eventually, he was given the chance in the Sydney Test, where he showed some promise by taking six wickets. However, just like Harshit, Prasidh was wayward. In the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, he has once again impressed with his bowling traits – decent pace and extracting awkward bounce from a slightly fuller length.
On the flip side, from time to time, he has drifted down the leg side, alongside ushering in hit-me deliveries. Maybe there is a small glitch or two with his front-on action, which isn’t helping him to maintain his control. Whatever it is, the think-tank may not take a risk with Prasidh for the Champions Trophy, with his lack of control acting as the hurdle.
Vaibhav Arora
Just like Harshit, Arora too bowled some zestful spells for Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2024 IPL, finishing with 11 wickets. Arora is quick enough to keep the batter honest. More importantly, he swings the new ball upfront, with the inswinger to the right-hander turning out to be his main weapon. In addition to it, there doesn’t seem to be any real discernible change in his action when he tries the variation – the away-swinger. Occasionally, in Dubai, during night conditions, it also swings a little more than expected. The chances of Arora making it to the squad are slim, but he could be an option in the near future.
Khaleel Ahmed and Yash Dayal
This duo could come into the equation due to their left-arm angle. Khaleel’s bowling is a mixture of different offerings. He constantly changes the angles – from over to round the wicket, alongside possessing the away-swinger, hard lengths and wide yorkers. Occasionally, his release point might be slightly lower, and at other times, it could be higher.
Just like some of his pace colleagues, Khaleel’s control though can go awry. Yash Dayal is one more left-armer eyeing a place in the set-up. He too mainly employs the away-swinger while bowling to the right-hand batters. The missing link is the potent inswinger with the new ball. On the brighter side, Dayal is pretty good at pulling his length back and mixing up his pace in the slog overs. We saw a glimpse of it during the IPL game against CSK.
Mukesh Kumar and Anshul Kamboj
Both seamers are proficient at bowling on and around top of off and making the batter play from the first over of the innings. However, neither Mukesh nor Kamboj do a great deal with the ball. Mukesh, though, does nail the yorker quite well. Akash Deep, Mukesh’s Bengal teammate, could have also been in contention but he is currently laid low by a back issue. Mayank Yadav, the tearaway fast bowler who pounds the deck very hard, is also recovering from a back injury.
Just peeking through the various options, it is quite evident that most of the bowlers are relatively inexperienced. In case Bumrah can’t make it to the Champions Trophy, it is imperative that the Indian coaching staff back their selection to the hilt.
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