Saturday, February 15th, 2025

T20 World Cup: How will Arshdeep-Siraj overcome the challenge of death overs? Australian veteran raised questions


New Delhi. India has selected 4 spinners in its T20 World Cup team, while the number of fast bowlers is only three. This shows that the Indian selectors expect slow pitches in America and West Indies. Have the Indian selectors made any mistake by selecting only 3 fast bowlers in the 15-member team? Questions have also been raised on the choice in fast bowling.

Before the start of IPL, only Jasprit Bumrah’s selection in the fast bowling department was certain while other fast bowlers had to prove themselves in the league. Looking at the team selected on Tuesday, the selectors adopted a safe approach and chose Mohammad Siraj and Arshdeep Singh to support Bumrah in the ICC tournament starting from June 1. Fast bowlers like Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan and T Natarajan, who impressed with their bowling skills in the death overs in the ongoing IPL, were ignored.

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Mohammad Siraj has played 10 and Arshdeep has played 44 T20 international matches for India. The performance of both of them in the current IPL has not been good but on the basis of their past performance they have got a place in the team for India. This pair has the ability to swing the new ball, but in T20 cricket, it is equally important how a bowler stops the batsmen in the death overs. Both Arshdeep and Siraj have not been able to perform well in the death overs in IPL.

Mohammad Siraj has given runs at the rate of 9.50 runs per over while Arshdeep has proved to be very expensive. He has given away runs at the rate of 9.63 runs per over. However, Arshdeep has taken 12 wickets in nine matches. He also took 10 wickets in the 2022 T20 World Cup.

In the opinion of former chief selector MSK Prasad, taking three fast bowlers to the World Cup would be enough and he has no problem with the players selected. Prasad said, ‘The pitches there are expected to help the slow bowlers and that is why they are going with four spin options.’ He said, ‘I see only two specialist fast bowlers playing along with Hardik Pandya in the playing eleven. I would like to start with Bumrah and Siraj but the management can choose between Siraj and Arshdeep depending on the combination of opposition batsmen.

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MSK Prasad described it as a ‘balanced team’. However, he feels that Lokesh Rahul deserved a place in it. The former Indian wicketkeeper said, ‘It is unfortunate from a batting point of view that a player like Lokesh Rahul has missed out but I am sure he will make a strong comeback.’

However, not everyone agrees with Prasad’s views regarding India’s bowling combination for the ICC tournament. Aaron Finch, who was the captain of Australia’s T20 World Cup winning team, feels that Bumrah needs more support in the fast bowling department due to Siraj and Arshdeep not performing consistently. Finch told ‘Star Sports’, ‘I was surprised even by the four spinners. I had selected Rinku (Singh) and only two spinners.

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Aaron Finch said, ‘I had extra fast bowlers in my starting team because I think given the lack of consistency in the performance of others other than Jasprit Bumrah with the ball, especially in the power-play, I was looking for fast bowlers. Wanted additional support. If they want to play three spinners in the match, one of them will have to be ready to bowl in the powerplay and I don’t see any of them doing that consistently.

Former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop said that four spinners were not needed in the 15-member team. He said, ‘I think spin will play a role in the tournament. My only concern is that the pitches for the World Cup may be a little different from those seen in bilateral series or domestic tournaments. That’s why I think there was no need for four spinners. (input language)

tag: Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Siraj, t20 world cup, team india

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