4 Options India should have explored after their injury crisis
India maintained their perfect start at the Asia Cup with a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over their arch-rivals, Pakistan.
Though the victory rejoiced across the country, it came at a cost with Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya injuring themselves during the course of the match.
Pandya collapsed while bowling his fifth over and sent shockwaves throughout the country. Ever since his debut, Pandya has lent balance to the Indian team and has performed admirably in limited-overs cricket.
Thus, his untimely injury is a huge cause of concern. The think-tank would hope he can recover in time for the series Down Under.
Axar, on the other hand, has always been on the fringes of the Indian team. Hence, his absence would not have as enormous an impact as Pandya’s departure.
The third injury concern flared up when Shardul Thakur was ruled out. Thakur played the game against Hong Kong and was looked upon as a back-up to Bumrah and Bhuvaneshwar.
With the aforementioned players out of the picture, the selectors named Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar and Siddharth Kaul as replacements.
Though Chahar and Kaul have been on the periphery recently, Jadeja makes his comeback after quite a while.
However, the Indian think-tank could have gone in for some different players who have been in a rich vein of form and warrant a time in the sun. Through the course of this article, we would look at three other options India should have explored to solve their injury conundrum.
#4 Krishnappa Gowtham
Gowtham shot into the limelight with a stellar Ranji Trophy season for Karnataka in 2017-18. His performances didn’t go unnoticed and the Rajasthan Royals coughed up 6.2 Cr for his services at the 2018 IPL Auction.
He performed well for Rajasthan and provided the team with impetus towards the end of the innings.
Gowtham has the ability to clear the boundary at will and represents a decent option as a lower order dasher.
Additionally, he is very good with the ball. His confidence with the new ball provides a different avenue to the team and makes him a versatile option.
Gowtham has been doing well on his escapades for the India A side with bat and bowl. With an injury to the reserve all-rounder, Axar Patel, Gowtham could have been thrown into the mix to see what the lad from Karnataka is made of.
Though Gowtham hasn’t been as consistent as he would’ve have liked, his game has a certain X-Factor. An X-Factor which won Rajasthan Royals games from improbable situations and one that every team would like to have.
With the selectors not including him, it could again be a case of them not throwing the right players into the mix at the right time.