Cricket News: Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel or Avesh Khan, who will be in Indian Squad for the World Cup?

Indian cricket has a vast pool of fast bowlers in the shortest format. The Indian Premier League keeps adding emerging talent to the existing pool of players every year. 

The reign of Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma has seen plenty of chances for the top IPL performers, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, and Umran Malik, in addition to the existing stars in the form of Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami. 

With such a powerful bench strength, we will see who could be the potential third fast bowler who should be playing a crucial role alongside indispensable Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for Men in Blue in the T20 World Cup.  

Harshal Patel

From an unknown player being picked by Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2021 to becoming MVP of the season, he has made himself a favourite pacer for India. A thinking cricketer with a sharp ability to vary his pace, line and length in death overs makes him an impressive choice as the third pacer for Men in Blue. 

23 wickets in 16 T20Is and 97 in 76 IPL innings speak volumes of his talent in the shortest format. He also comes in handy with the bat, carrying a strike rate of 129-plus in T20s. 

Arshdeep Singh

The young bowler has been making noise since his impressive stints in bowling death overs for Punjab Kings. He picked 40 wickets in 37 IPL games and returned six crucial game-changing wickets in 4 international matches. The bowler not only forced selectors to look at him as the potential left-arm pacer that team India lacked but also made plenty of fans support him off the field. 

"That is something he has been doing for Punjab Kings, he has been bowling those tough overs, that is the reason why you could see the confidence in him. That shows how mature he is and how well he has learned while bowling for Punjab," said Parthiv Patel 

Avesh Khan

Playing for Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants, the bowler has proved to be a nippy seam bowler who keeps the capability to move the new ball consistently. Marking an impressive debut against West Indies on Indian soil, he looked to struggle a little on the tour of West Indies. 

In the recent match, he conceded 47 runs in 3 overs, putting a dent in his brief international career. Avesh, in 5.2 death overs in the last five T20Is, has conceded 17.4 runs an over with no wickets, which raised a few doubts about his inclusion in the squad. 

However, confident of his capability, the Indian bowling coach Paras Mhambrey backed Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan and said, "Very happy with the potential they have shown. The last couple of games we played, Arsh and Avesh have shown their ability to perform under pressure and it is something I am very happy with."