Focus will be on fast bowlers Shami, Khaleel, Umesh ahead of Aussie tour

With the senior national selectors looking all set to ‘rest’ Jasprit Bumrah for the upcoming series against Bangladesh, there is concern over the fast bowling resources in the country as there are no new options in the squads for the upcoming Duleep Trophy.

India will be playing red-ball cricket after a long time during which they mostly played white-ball matches when they take on Bangladesh in a two-match Test series at home in September. With the Border Gavaskar Trophy set to be played towards the end of the year, the selectors want Bumrah to be at his best to help India claim a hat-trick of series against the hosts.

The selectors are therefore considering Arshdeep Singh and Khaleel Ahmed as options while they will also have a chance to assess Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav when they take part in the Duleep Trophy. Shami is currently recuperating from his surgery and has yet to play a game.

There are bowlers like Prasidh Krishna, Mayank Yadav, Akash Deep, Umran Malik, and Harshit Rana that have been considered and some of them have been tried in different forms of cricket. But none of them has been able to gain the confidence of the team management and the selectors to make a permanent mark and emerge as a long-term option.

Former India opener and commentator Akash Chopra feels selectors have tried all fast bowlers except Umesh Yadav in recent times.

“All fast bowlers available in India have been picked. Of course, Mohammed Shami is not there in these teams. (Ravindra) Jadeja and Axar (Patel) are also playing. Umran Malik -- I am very happy for him. Arshdeep (Singh) is playing - I feel they are thinking whether he can be prepared for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy,” Aakash Chopra said in a video on his YouTube channel.

“Since there is no idea about Shami’s fitness and availability at the moment, all fast bowlers in India barring Umesh Yadav have been tried. I don’t see Yuzi (Yuzvendra) Chahal also in this. So it seems like some things are developing in a certain way,” the former India opener added.

With Morne Morkel set to take over as the new bowling coach of the Indian team as part of new coach Gautam Gambhir’s support staff, there is hope that they will try to groom some of the young fast bowlers for red-ball cricket.

Arshdeep Singh seems the first one to gain their confidence after doing well in the 2024 T20 World Cup. The previous team management with Paras Mahambrey as the bowling coach was apparently of the opinion that Arshdeep was ready for white-ball cricket and would need some more time to play the longer game.

The Test series against Bangladesh at home seems a good opportunity to assess the fast bowling resources in the absence of Bumrah. Arshdeep seems the first beneficiary of this thought process. Shami is expected to be one of the bowlers joining Bumrah on that tour.

According to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah, Shami is currently in the NCA and said he will be available for the series against Australia. He said Shami would be there because he is experienced, and will be needed in Australia. Shami himself has recently expressed his desire to play in some games for his domestic team Bengal to gain match fitness. He said he plans to be on the tour of Australia.

Shami has been out of action since representing India in the final of the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 after which he had surgery on his right ankle in London. The selectors should also keenly watch Umesh Yadav in the Duleep Trophy and consider him in case Shami is not ready for a hectic and laborious tour of Australia.

Agencies