It is the spin bowlers that are expected to do the bulk of the damage when it comes to Indian pitches and the sub-continental conditions in general but the importance of having good pace bowlers who can give you a few handy overs to begin with and who can bowl accurately at the death are priceless. Most of the teams in the ICC WT20 2016 will play 2 frontline pace bowlers and they will have to give their respective teams a good start so that the spinners are not under pressure when they come in. Out of the two likely pacers that India will play, one is almost a 37 year old making a dream comeback while the other is a starry eyed 22 year old peppy youngster who’s just made his international debut.
Ashish Nehra
Ashish Nehra made his international debut for India in 1999 but he has thus far played in only 17 tests and 120 ODI’s for India, a very low number of games indeed for someone of his calibre. But his career was marred by several injuries and despite of numerous good performances he would always be side-lined due to his long breaks away from the game. He was recalled to the Indian side for their 3 match T20 series against Australia last month and he showed that he still retained the pace and wiles of old.
He thuds in to the bowling crease and possesses all the variations with a prominent and vicious in-swinger that can defeat even the most accomplished batsman. Possessing the natural left-arm seamers angle he can be a difficult customer for a right hand batsman to negotiate when the ball is doing a bit off the pitch or in the air. Although he picked up only 2 wickets in the T20I series down under, his experience of playing on the Indian tracks will be invaluable.
Impact Rating – 6.5/10
Jasprit Bumrah
Bumrah made his T20 debut against Australia down under and immediately impressed everybody who saw him. Owing to a bustling run up and a unique bowling action he hurried even the Australian batsmen who are accustomed to facing quick bowlers. The most impressive aspect of his bowling was that he seemed unfazed by the pressure and maintained his cool even in the death overs. His yorkers, which he landed at the base of the leg stump and was accurate with them, made life difficult for every Australian batsman batting at the death. He was the highest wicket taker in the three match series with 6 wickets and was hailed by the Indian skipper as the find of the tour.
He will be a key impact player for India as they have always struggled to control the leakage of runs at the death and Bumrah with his skiddy action and a penetrative yorker can well provide the answer to Dhoni’s call in that regards.
Impact rating – 7/10
India also have Mohammed Shami who is the third pacer in the squad but he is still not a certainty for the mega event as he is recovering from an injury. India have two very good fast bowling options who can deliver match winning spells for them even in the Indian conditions.
This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.
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