When India's selectors sit down to pick the squad for the
T20 World Cup
in the USA and West Indies in June, they will have many batting options to choose from.
While seniors like captain
Rohit Sharma
and
Virat Kohli
have been amongst the runs, the likes of
Yashasvi Jaiswal
, Shubman Gill,
Suryakumar Yadav
and Shivam Dube have sizzled at various points in IPL 2024.
With
Rishabh Pant
back from injury, there are many options in the keeping department too. Ditto for the spinners. One grey area that is increasingly becoming a serious cause for concern is the lack of pace bowling options beyond
Jasprit Bumrah
.
Even as Bumrah has topped the charts with 13 wickets in eight matches @15.69 at an economy rate of 6.37, the others have struggled to survive.
Before this IPL,
Mohammed Siraj
, one thought, could be the right man to share the new ball for India in the T20 World Cup. However, the pacer's struggles - just five wickets in seven [email protected], at an economy rate of 10.34 - have mirrored those of the bottom-placed RCB.
Mukesh Kumar has been slightly better for the Delhi Capitals, taking nine wickets in five [email protected], but his economy rate is 10.40, which tells you that he can leak runs when swing is absent.
Usually a safe bet, left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh has gone for an economy rate of 9.40 while taking 10 wickets in eight games for the Punjab Kings. Avesh Khan has taken eight wickets in eight [email protected], but his economy rate has been 9.41.
The poor form of some of the regular pacers might prompt the selectors to recall the likes of left-arm pacer T Natarajan (10 wickets in five matches @17.00, economy rate of 8.50), who is nailing his yorkers again, or Sandeep Sharma (impressive for the Rajasthan Royals with six wickets in three matches, including best of five for 18 against the Mumbai Indians).
Will the selectors be bold and try out rookies like Mohsin Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Yash Thakur or Harshit Rana?
English (US) ·