2023 World Cup: Predicting 3 players who could pick up the most wickets in today’s India vs Bangladesh match ft. Mohammed Siraj
It's quite difficult to predict which bowler could be more successful when India take on Bangladesh at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune in a vital 2023 World Cup fixture on Thursday.
Over the years, the pitch here has favored fast bowlers more than spinners in ODIs, with eight of the top 10 wicket-takers being pacers. Pune doesn't see a lot of dew generally and the boundaries are a bit too small to help the spinners.
However, in World Cups, where there are a small number of matches in a two-month period but all high-level ones, the pitches can be completely different from the usual. And the pattern so far in the tournament, for most of the varied venues, has been of flat pitches which turn a bit as the match progresses.
But then, both India and Bangladesh have struggled more against pace than spin in this tournament and that pattern might continue again even on a sporting wicket.
So, in this piece, for the first time since we started this series, we have gone with the three pacers for our prediction. Check them out:
#3 Jasprit Bumrah
It's the safest choice. Jasprit Bumrah is currently in the form of his life. Against Pakistan, he picked up wickets in a phase where most observers would've given him the least chance - the middle overs. And it almost looked like he picked them at will by completely dominating Mohammad Rizwan and Shadab Khan.
Bumrah has also been one of the best new ball bowlers in this World Cup because of his consistency in hitting the right areas, even on flat tracks. And because of how good India have been in the middle overs, he has rarely needed to bowl at the death, generally his most wicket-proficient phase. Against Bangladesh, who boast a strong middle order, he'll have a better chance to do that.
Help from the wicket in the powerplay, personal form in the middle overs, and a first chance to pick a bag of wickets at the death, it just looks good for the leader of India's pace attack.
Bumrah may or may not blow the opposition away but he'll most certainly return with at least a few wickets.
#2 Mustafizur Rahman
Left-arm seamer Mustafirzur Rahman started his ODI career against India with back-to-back five-wicket hauls. He hasn't been quite at his best over the last few months but his rhythm in this World Cup has been quite good.
India's struggles against left-arm seamers are obvious but the hosts haven't been tested yet due to the pitches. If there's more swing available in Pune than what we've seen so far, 'Fizz' could be a big threat to India's top order.
Rohit Sharma, India's best batter so far in the tournament, has struggled against Mustafirzur a lot. Even if he, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli try to go after him, the angle he creates from over the wicket, with the ball going across, might trouble them. He also gets good bounce off the pitch early on and has a nasty bumper too.
Even if Mustafirzur doesn't get a lot of wickets upfront, Bangladesh would use him at the death overs where India's paper-thin lower order would be in trouble.
#1 Mohammed Siraj
If the conditions would be helpful for Mustafirzur Rahman, they would be helpful for Mohammed Siraj too. The right-arm seamer was one of India's best bowlers when they toured Bangladesh in 2022. On pitches almost tailor-made for spinners, he came back with six wickets in two games at an average of 22.
Only Litton Das has converted his starts so far in the Tigers' top order and Siraj has got him out cheaply in the second ODI in 2022 and also in the 2023 Asia Cup.
After struggling a bit against Australia and Afghanistan, Siraj seemed to have found his mojo back against Pakistan. He put the ball in the right areas, trusted his cross-seamed deliveries more, and didn't overtly rely on help from the surface.
If he continues that rhythm, we might see another top-order collapse.