Top 4 bowlers who could be Team India’s next Jasprit Bumrah in Tests: future pace prospects to watch out for.
A few days ago, the Mumbai Indians’ captain, Hardik Pandya, reckoned that the best time to bring Jasprit Bumrah into the attack is when the team is under pressure. He is absolutely right, and his statement applies across the three formats of the game. Whether it’s with the white ball or the red ball, Bumrah will come to make an impact even against the set batters.
Generally, in Test cricket it becomes tough to go through a set batter’s defense. However, it’s not the case with the Ahmedabad-born. He has various skills of swinging the ball both ways and exposing the opponent, with reverse swing and fiery yorkers. In the modern five-day format, the bowlers need to have several tricks in their bag to fox the batters.
For India, he is undoubtedly the premier pacer in all three formats. In 86 innings, the right-arm pacer has already collected 443 international wickets, thanks to 15 five-wicket hauls. He is the only red-ball bowler to have averaged under 20 at the time of reaching 200 scalps.
Now, the question is who will lead the country’s bowling attack once the 31-year-old leaves the scene. There are a few pacers who have done well at the start of their career and can be the leader of the pack.
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Here are the pacers who can lead India’s bowling attack after Jasprit Bumrah leaves the scene.
Arshdeep Singh
Arshdeep Singh is yet to make his red-ball debut for the national side. However, the left arm pacer has already earned success in the white-ball formats. In the T20Is, he is one of India’s main pacers, having picked up 99 wickets at an economy rate of 8.29.
In a short first-class career, Arshdeep has bagged 66 scalps in 37 innings at an average of 30.37. Since Zaheer Khan’s retirement, the Blue Brigade has been trying hard to find a stable left-arm pacer. They brought Jaydev Unadkat back into the team, but the plan didn’t last long.
The Madhya Pradesh-born has displayed his skill of swinging the ball in both directions. The 26-year-old is expected to feature in a few games during the away England series. The experience will be valuable for him to potentially lead the pace attack in the future.
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Prasidh Krishna
Prasidh Krishna uses his height to extract the stiff bounce off the surface. It creates trouble for the batters to time the ball sweetly. They find it hard to judge whether to go forward or stay on the back foot. In such a short international career of 25 encounters, he has picked up 45 wickets.
The Bengaluru-born has also made an impact in first-class cricket with 88 wickets in 43 innings. His average is just over 21, which shows how he can bowl the dry spells on flat surfaces. The 29-year-old has earned success in the recent seasons of the IPL and has the capability of leading the country’s fast bowling attack.
Mukesh Kumar
Mukesh Kumar hasn’t cracked the international code yet, with 32 wickets in 29 innings at an average of more than 35. Meanwhile, his FC records are excellent, with 210 scalps in 95 innings at an average of 21.55 with nine five-wicket hauls.
He can also hold one end to create pressure on the batters. During the recent India A clash against the England Lions, he ended with a fine spell of 3/92. He wasn’t on the spot with the line and length earlier before making a fine comeback later in the game.
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Anshul Kamboj
At the beginning of his career, Anshul Kamboj has already earned success. It’s incredible how he finds the right length on a surface quite rapidly. He is tall and has pocketed 75 wickets in 39 FC innings and 74 wickets in 55 white-ball domestic innings. At 24 years old, the Chennai Super Kings pacer has time to learn several tricks of the game from the seniors.
The Haryana pacer got the chance to feature in the opening unofficial Test for India A in Canterbury. He was accurate on most deliveries and returned with figures of 1/69 in 22 overs. Kamboj broke Ben McKinney’s defense to disturb the off-stump as the batter had no idea of the seam movement.
It could be a smart move from the BCCI selectors to groom him for the future with several domestic and India A fixtures.
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