Umran Malik not groomed, Mayank Yadav not considered, will selectors consider Arshdeep Singh or Khaleel Ahmed for T20 World Cup?

Umran Malik not groomed, Mayank Yadav not considered, will selectors consider Arshdeep Singh or Khaleel Ahmed for T20 World Cup?

Only six months ago, at the World Cup on home soil, India’s new- ball bowlers were the talk of the town. Now with the T20 World Cup little over a month away, India are fretting over their new-ball bowlers with Mohammed Shami out injured and Mohammed Siraj struggling for form in the Indian Premier League. As things stand, India’s only hope in the pace department remains Jasprit Bumrah, the lone one who has an X-factor attached to his name.

In the next few days, India’s selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar has to name the provisional 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup to be held in the USA and Caribbean in June. While they definitely have a few hard decisions to make in terms of whom to leave out in batting and wicketkeeping, it is in the bowling front that India have key calls to take, especially on how to construct an attack. The choices seem to be straightforward for spinners with Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi being obvious choices.

However, when it comes to the pace battery, India are in a spot of bother. For instance, for the Powerplay overs, after Bhuvneshwar Kumar fell out of the pack, India have been dependent on Shami and Siraj for wickets. With Shami out injured and T20s not being Siraj’s forte, India have now turned their eyes on left-arm seamers Arshdeep Singh and Khaleel Ahmed for the role.

Ever since Bhuvneshwar fell out of contention, India were looking at Deepak Chahar as an ideal option to bowl in the Powerplay as it would have enabled them to use Bumrah predominantly in the second half of the innings. But with Chahar missing matches and struggling with a niggle during the IPL, India have been forced to look at options from the fringe.

Although Arshdeep, who has been part of the T20 set-up since the last World Cup, had struggled of late in the international arena, he is showing signs of returning to form in the IPL. Apart from having the ability to swing the new ball, especially into the right-hander, Arshdeep can also be counted to bowl at the death.

Similarly, Khaleel, who had an impressive domestic season, is being seen as a genuine option. Between 2018 and 2019, he was part of the Indian white-ball sides and seen as a good prospect. But with his limitations showing up, he was sent back to the domestic grind. It is understood that apart from increasing a few yards of pace, Ahmed has come back to the IPL with more variations in his arsenal, including slower balls, which have been hard to pick.

Asset not utilised

Given these struggles, it is perplexing why Umran Malik, whose pace could be handy in the format, wasn’t groomed keeping the T20 World Cup in mind. The 24-year-old, who was seen as an exciting prospect, hasn’t played a T20I since February 2023 and ODI since July 2023. Apart from spinners, it is out-and-out pacers like Umran that other teams generally fall back upon in the middle overs as they can take conditions out of the equation. In Anrich Nortje, Mark Wood, Lockie Ferguson, Haris Rauf, the likes of South Africa, England, New Zealand and Pakistan have an edge on that front. And given their pace bowling resources have only been dwindling, it remains a big puzzle why India haven’t made full use of Umran.

Lucknow Super Giants’ Mayank Yadav, who has impressed everyone with his pace, has to wait for his chance as the selectors want him to go through the domestic grind.

This means, in the middle overs, India will have to be largely dependent on Kuldeep, who will be their attacking force. Given these limitations, it also means India’s nucleus will revolve around their batting unit. In the past, even for T20 World Cups, India have largely built their squad around their bowling. And given their bowling, India’s plan is to go defensive with the ball and be aggressive with their batting unit.

It is something India have been doing in T20Is of late, but with different batting personnel. With senior, experienced players in their ranks, whose strike rates aren’t going to give sleepless nights to opposition teams, the lingering question is whether this formula would work as one has to always go for extra runs to make up for the composition of the attack.

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