"I'm going to find it hard to put Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar in the playing XI" - Brad Hogg lauds India's fast bowling depth
Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg praised the Indian fast bowling talent pool, which has been on display in the recent past. The likes of Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, and Mohammad Siraj have performed well across the last two series under Rohit Sharma's captaincy.
With the upcoming T20 World Cup slated to take place in Australia, the onus is on the pacers. The hunt for a potential third seamer to partner alongside Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami is turning out to be a difficult call. The rising pacers also bring variety to the table, which in turn broadens India's pace unit as a whole.
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Admitting that he is finding it difficult to include swing bowlers into the playing XI, Hogg said on his YouTube channel:
"India's pace attack depth in T20 cricket is exceptional. If I'm picking a team for the T20 WC for India, I'm going to find it hard to put Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar in there with the way Siraj, Avesh Khan, and Harshal Patel have been bowling."
Hogg added:
They've got the best spin depth as well. Their batters after the top 2 are just exploding. Iyer, how good is he? Best selection in the IPL Auction."
Indian pacers bowled their hearts out on the pacy track in Dharamsala, but endured a hard time in the death overs. Bowling in tandem with the new ball, Avesh Khan and Mohammad Siraj bowled the entire powerplay, conceding only 18 runs in return with 3 wickets as well.
"India are going to be tough to beat in the T20 World Cup" - Brad Hogg
Despite a record-equalling 12th consecutive win in the shortest format, Rohit Sharma noted that there are a couple of areas for improvement. Hogg feels that India should focus on their death bowling and spin bowling in the middle overs.
That's that from the final T20I.
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Harshal Patel has been primed to handle the death overs with the ball for the team alongside Burmah. The medium pacer struggled in the second T20I, but returned figures of 1-29 in the final contest of the series. Hogg added:
"I think Rohit Sharma will be looking at a couple of areas in the death bowling and spin in the middle overs. I think he thinks that the spin can have a little bit more variety. Kuldeep Yadav and Jadeja, very good quality bowlers, but when under pressure, opposition teams are able to get to them."
Hogg concluded:
When Sri Lankans swept Kuldeep, he did not really have a ball to counter that. When it is not turning, Jadeja sometimes bowls a little quicker, it gets easier to hit down the ground, so that's a little area there. India are going to be tough to beat in the T20 World Cup."
The Men In Blue had experimented with Varun Chakravarthy, R Ashwin and Rahul Chahar in the previous World Cup, despite the trio not being in the plans for too long. This time around, the side are carefully experimenting without compromising on the result to put out their best playing XI for the T20 World Cup.