3 bowlers who will be key to India's success in 2021 T20 World Cup
The 2021 T20 World Cup is getting closer and India are one of the favorites to win the seminal tournament. The Men in Blue have named a 15-man squad to be led by Virat Kohli for the showpiece event, with Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur listed as reserves.
The squad has seen some big names missing, with the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal and Shikhar Dhawan excluded from the team, but every player who has been named is capable of putting in match-winning performances.
India T20 World Cup Squad https://t.co/D17dICYKoh
While India boasts of a very strong batting lineup, led by Kohli and vice-captain Rohit Sharma at the top, their bowling attack is also one of the most potent – and versatile -- in the tournament.
Spearheaded by Jasprit Bumrah, India have a good combination of pacers and spinners, and with the 2020 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and half of the 2021 season played in the UAE, the bowlers have had plenty of experience in the conditions to sharpen their skills and make the most of the pitches there.
There are concerns over whether Hardik Pandya will bowl or not, as he can add balance as a pace bowling all-rounder, but even if his fitness does not permit him to have a go, India still have enough options to field a threatening team.
The three difference makers in the bowling department for India in the T20 World Cup 2021
Jasprit Bumrah
It is probably no surprise that “Boom” is the first name on the list. Jasprit Bumrah has become an integral part of the Indian Cricket team across formats, but in T20s, he has proven to be especially deadly. In 50 T20Is, Bumrah has 59 wickets, at an average of 20.25 and economy of 6.66. His bowling strike rate is 18.20.
For context, among India’s pacers going to the UAE, only Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar have a better strike rate than him, and only the latter has a better average, and they have played less than half the matches Bumrah has.
Even in the IPL, Bumrah has been a key cog in the Mumbai Indians team that has dominated the tournament since 2013, winning it a record five times.
Apart from being India’s best death-overs bowler, Bumrah is someone the captain can turn to in the Powerplay or in the middle overs if the team needs to break a partnership or get a key wicket.
He is deadly with his yorkers, but also has a huge range of deliveries in his arsenal that he can use to deceive batsmen.
Bumrah is the spearhead of the Indian attack, and the team will need him to be at his best for a successful tournament.
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Varun Chakravarthy
Ever since his breakthrough season in IPL 2020, Varun Chakravarthy has been on the national team selectors’ radar. He missed out on two series for India after failing to clear his fitness tests, but finally made his T20I debut on the tour of Sri Lanka in July this year.
Chakravarthy has been picked due to his mystery spin, which has made it difficult for even the best of batsmen to pick him in the two seasons of the IPL that he has played in, and on spin-friendly tracks in the UAE, he is expected to either pick key wickets, or choke the opposition for runs.
In IPL 2021, he has picked up 15 wickets from 13 matches at an economy rate of 6.73, and is the leading spinner in the wicket-takers’ list along with Rashid Khan.
The previous season, he picked 17 wickets from 13 matches, including a five-wicket haul. With Yuzvendra Chahal out of the team and Rahul Chahar not in the best of form going into the World Cup, Chakravarthy is expected to be India’s premier spinner in the tournament.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is not having the best of seasons in the IPL, but the veteran seamer will be key for India. With 51 T20I games under his belt, Bhuvneshwar is a seasoned campaigner, and India will bank on his experience to provide crucial breakthroughs and keep opponents’ scoring rate in check.
Bhuvneshwar is a huge threat with the new ball, with his ability to swing it both ways, and a huge asset in the death overs. The SunRisers Hyderabad pacer can use his variations to deadly effect, and he proved this in India’s last T20I series itself, with a man-of-the-match performance in the first game against Sri Lanka.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has 50 wickets with an economy rate of 6.90, so along with Bumrah, he is expected to form a potent pace attack for India.