T20 World Cup 2022: What should India's bowling look like for the World Cup?

Deepak Chahar, who was on the reserve list, has now been ruled out following stiffness in his back, which has caused the Indian cricket team to be hit by another injury. The injuries and form concerns have become a massive headache for the management and selectors. 

What should be the best possible seamer combination for the World Cup?

Despite all the gloominess surrounding the bowling department, as the event is in Australia, any team would desire to play with four pacers in their playing XI. The tracks in Australia may favour batters while offering pace and bounce to the fast bowlers. It will pose a different challenge to the Indian seam attack.

In such a scenario, the four pacers more likely to form India's pace attack in the tournament are Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, and Harshal Patel. This way, they can utilise Hardik Pandya as the sixth pacer in case any other leading pacer is having a bad day out on the field. 

Primary responsibility on the shoulder of experienced pacers

In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, India is most likely to turn their paths to their experienced pacer Mohammed Shami, who has plenty of experience playing on Australian pitches. This is mainly because Bhuvneshwar Kumar did well in powerplay overs in the Asia cup and the bilateral series but struggled to handle death overs. These two will be responsible for getting the team early breakthroughs in the powerplay itself. Mohammed Shami has begun training and is ready to fly to Australia after passing a fitness test at NCA. 

Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel are in the squad, but they don't have experience playing in the World Cup and hence have an excellent opportunity to cement their place in the side. Returning from injury, Harshal Patel had difficulty returning to groove in death overs when played in bilateral series following the Asia Cup.

Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya- the most in-form players so far

The left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh has shown immense grit and determination in all the international matches he has played till now. He showed his ability to bowl accurate yorkers in the death overs, which is what India needs at the given moment. 

The bouncy pitches of Australia will be perfect for Hardik Pandya. Cricket is enjoying its good times for him, and he is doing well as an all-rounder. His experience playing in such marquee events will come in handy for team India.  

A significant task of choosing one seamer from the three reserves

As Deepak Chahar, too, got ruled out, he was replaced by Shardul Thakur in the reserves. And India has called Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami to Australia after witnessing his impressive performance in an ODI against South Africa. 

Who will be chosen among both as the replacement for Jasprit Bumrah is yet to be announced by the BCCI? 

Sunil Gavaskar gave his verdict, "I'd go for Siraj because he has been bowling well, Shami has not played for a while. And to hit your steps straight away in a World Cup, yes there are a couple of warm-up matches."

"Just the fact that he (Shami) has not played any cricket. It's never easy to come back after Covid. Your stamina can be a little bit of suspect - I know it's a four-over game in T20I cricket. But look at the way Siraj has been bowling. He's bowling brilliantly," he added