BGT: Pace attack wears an uncertain look as India head Down Under

The Team Is Heavily Reliant On Bumrah’s Genius But In The Absence Of Shami, Can The Rest Of The Faster Men, Including Siraj, Rise To The Occasion?
During the last tour of Australia in 2020-21, Indian cricket appeared to have unveiled an enviable pool of fast bowlers. Two years before that, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma formed a menacing pace-bowling attack that took the fight to the hosts.
This week, though, as the Indian team leaves in batches for Australia, there’s a sense of anxiety around the pace attack. Bumrah may be the leading pacer in international cricket but his support cast of Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana looks undercooked. Siraj’s form adds to the concern. The selectors have picked five pacers in the main team along with three travelling reserves for the five-Test long tour. Yet, picking two effective seamers to complement Bumrah remains a big challenge going into a series that will decide India’s fate in the World Test Championship (WTC).One may argue that India emerged triumphant on the last tour Down Under despite being without Shami, Ishant and Umesh for the most part, before Bumrah too broke down ahead of the final Test in Brisbane. However, unlike 2020-21, the support cast of faster bowlers doesn’t inspire the same confidence. Devang Gandhi, who served as national selector for both previous tours, says there was so much clarity on the last tour about the second line of players.
“Navdeep Saini, Siraj and Shardul Thakur were finished products by the time they made their debuts for India. The robust India ‘A’ programme under Rahul Dravid helped them to be prepared for conditions around the world. This time there’s kind of a lack of experience on that front. When the pacers were on song in the last two tours, it reduced pressure on the batters to get big scores. Scores of 300-plus were enough to put the opposition under pressure,” Gandhi told TOI.

Talking about India’s famed developmental programmes, former India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, who was Dravid’s trusted lieutenant for almost decade, said it usually takes five years to prepare a crop of pacers but one must not put a timeline on individual bowlers.
“If you talk about the current set of pacers, one must know that there have been bowlers who picked up the art of sustaining themselves at the highest level in a few weeks, while there have been others who needed more time to mature. The key is to have patience with the players picked,” said Mhambrey. Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna are just 10 and 20 first-class matches old and have been picked ahead of Mukesh Kumar, who has played a huge role in Bengal doing well in the Ranji Trophy for the last five years. Sources told TOI that head coach Gautam Gambhir was adamant on keeping Rana in the Test team. There has also been debate over persisting with Saini as a reserve pacer.
Gandhi, who coached Rana in Delhi last year, fears the team management may have missed a chance to give him more time to acclimatize. “Harshit is very promising and a brave cricketer. He doesn’t shy away from challenges. But had he been in Australia with the India A team right now, he would have got more time to understand the lengths and how to bowl with the Kookaburra ball. Mind you, you may have to rest Bumrah in the middle of such a long series. Saini doesn’t look to be at his best and his economy is a major concern,” Gandhi said.

This is where all eyes will be trained on Siraj, hardened through the ‘A’ programme, who emerged as India’s next leader of pace attack on the last tour. But he travels to Australia in search of rediscovering himself after a rather dull home season.
Yet, Mhambrey doesn’t mind putting his money on Siraj. “You have to back him. He has the art of taking wickets and the experience of bowling around the world. His rhythm seems to be bothering him right now. But he is experienced enough to know that he needs to do a lot of bowling to get it back,” said Mhambrey. Could it be the added pressure of delivering as a lead pacer in the absence of Shami? “I don’t think so. The pressure may affect his consistency with line and length. But once he finds his rhythm, all of that will be taken care of. He knows you have to stick to a plan and line in Australia.”
Krishna was a kind of a pet project for Dravid and Mhambrey when they were working with the Indian team and decided to move on from an ageing Ishant. “Prasidh’s ability to generate bounce from a fuller length is his USP. When he is on song, he is very tough to play. The Kookaburra ball flattens out by the 35th over. That’s when you need someone to hold an end and someone to do something extra like Bumrah does,” Mhambrey said.
Rohit Sharma’s team is under pressure. And it may come down to the inexperienced pace attack to turn things around Down Under.