The national selectors seem to be circumspect about the fitness of India’s fast bowling unit ahead of the T20 World Cup next month. During the virtual selection committee meeting on Monday afternoon, the four wise men (West Zone has no representation in the panel) of Indian cricket were told that Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel have recovered from their injuries and were available for selection.
But given the manner in which concerns have been raised over fast bowlers’ fitness in recent times, they decided to include Mohammed Shami among the reserves, just in case... Not taking any chances, the Board also decided to send Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar to the National Cricket Academy for “conditioning-related work” during the home series versus Australia and South Africa this month.
“Any breakdown is possible. So it was best to not take any chances and keep a seasoned campaigner like Shami among the reserves to fill in for any last-minute injuries. At least we have a like-for-like replacement in such a scenario,” a source told The Telegraph on Tuesday.
The worry over what if match-winners like a Hardik Pandya or a Bumrah, who has just recovered from back spasms, gets injured seems to be haunting the Chetan Sharma-led committee. None of the new pacers though have really put in a breathtaking performance to deny Shami a place in the 15-member squad. Much like Bumrah, Shami hasn’t played any cricket since the England tour in July and the six T20Is at home would be a good platform to fine-tune his skills.
But that hasn’t stopped former captains like Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Mohammed Azharuddin from questioning his exclusion. Another former chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar also spoke on similar lines. “Shami could have been included. I would have even bargained for someone like Umran Malik.
He would have brought in the surprise element which helps in such tournaments. But I don’t want to get into any talk as to who they should have replaced. That is for the selectors to figure out,” Vengsarkar told The Telegraph.
A handful with the new ball, Shami had almost made it a habit to provide breakthroughs in the opening overs during Gujarat Titans’ successful IPL campaign this season. Would it have been prudent to replace Harshal with Shami in such circumstances? There’s no doubt India’s fortunes will largely depend on Bumrah’s form. But will Bhuvneshwar get the new ball to swing enough to put the batters in a quandary in Australian conditions?
If he doesn’t, it will leave the two inexperienced youngsters, Harshal and Arshdeep Singh, with a lot of workload. With such a vulnerable pace attack in hand, Shami’s presence would have provided some relief. Don’t forget his intelligent use of the seam has been one of the key reasons for his success in different conditions. The only comforting factor could be Pandya’s bowling which suits the hard surfaces Down Under. Harshal is not one who has enough pace to stifle the batters. He relies on creating angles by using the crease while variations in yorkers and slower ones have been his staple deliveries. Vengsarkar thinks three spinners were needed “since they do make a difference on the bigger Australian grounds”.
Fair logic but the selectors have picked an off-spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin who wasn’t given many chances in the past year. There can be little doubt over his class and temperament but has the team management provided enough support to instil confidence in his mind? The same applies for Axar Patel. The bowling unit is sure to throw up more questions than answers on any given day.