The Indian captain Rohit Sharma hinted during the course of India’s Asia Cup campaign that the Indian team would be playing with a combination of four fast bowlers in the T20 World Cup 2022, with Hardik Pandya being the 4th fast bowler in the playing XI.
In the Asia Cup, India played with the combination of four fast bowlers in only the first two group games. After that Ravindra Jadeja got injured and India went into the super 4 games with the combination of three fast bowlers, two spinners, and a part-time spinner in the form of Deepak Hooda.
After India suffered a group round exit in the last T20 World Cup in UAE, they started figuring out their fast bowling resources, and three fast bowlers whom the new Indian head coach Rahul Dravid figured out as the first choice fast bowlers were Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, and Jasprit Bumrah.
While Bhuvneshwar was seen mainly as a powerplay specialist, Harshal and Bumrah were in the XI to bowl in the middle overs as well as in the death. Avesh Khan has been a backup fast bowler ever since the first Indian T20I squad was picked after the last T20 World Cup. Later Arshdeep Singh got into the mix as well, after a fantastic IPL.
What happened just ahead of the Asia Cup was that both Bumrah and Harshal got injured simultaneously and India had to play Arshdeep and Avesh as the first-choice bowlers in the tournament, along with Bhuvneshwar and Hardik who were the first-choice bowlers anyway.
Then the sickness of Avesh mid-way through the Asia Cup ensured that India had no other option, but to play with only three fast bowlers in the super 4 round of the Asia Cup.
There is still a bit of uncertainty about Jasprit Bumrah’s availability for the T20 World Cup 2022
Harshal and Bumrah are currently recovering in the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and the reports have suggested that Harshal is close to 100% fitness now, but there is no certainty about Bumrah yet. If Harshal and Bumrah both are fit, India’s fast bowling combination for T20 World Cup 2022 is likely to be – Bhuvneshwar, Bumrah, Harshal, and Arshdeep, with Hardik Pandya being the fast bowling allrounder.
Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel both have started bowling practice in the nets. pic.twitter.com/Cr9AS8Yjrx
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) September 4, 2022
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However, if Bumrah doesn’t get fit in time, the selectors will opt for Avesh or might just throw in a surprise in the form of Prasidh Krishna, who had a fantastic last IPL as well and who would be well suited to the Australian conditions because of his height and pace.
