Former Indian fast bowler Ashish Nehra has picked Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Prasidh Krishna as the first choice pacers for the T20 World Cup, which will be played later in the year in Australia.
Nehra feels Deepak Chahar will come into the reckoning after these four fast bowlers.
Interestingly, Nehra didn’t pick Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who hasn’t been at his best in the recent past and he has gone down in the pecking order.
Kumar is part of the ongoing T20I series against West Indies and scalped one wicket in the first T20I against the Windies on Wednesday.
There is no doubt that Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami have been India’s best bowlers in all three forms of the game. Furthermore, Prasidh Krishna has also come up the ranks and he had a good job in the recently concluded ODI series against West Indies as he had snared nine wickets in three matches.
Ashish Nehra said while talking to Cricbuzz, “The World Cup is very far away. If the squad for the World Cup is to be announced tomorrow, there is only one pace bowler from this team who will make it, and that is Siraj.
My choice for the World Cup would be Siraj, Bumrah, Shami and Prasidh Krishna. We have seen what he can do, and after these four, comes Deepak Chahar.”
“It’s good to see that Rohit Sharma is backing Bhuvneshwar Kumar because he has so much experience. So, can do a change in the playing XI or not, does not matter much.”
On the other hand, former Indian wicket-keeper batter Parthiv Patel feels either Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Deepak Chahar can be given opportunities as they are known to swing the ball. Similarly, he feels Avesh Khan and Mohammed Siraj are similar kind of bowlers.
“I think one or two changes can be made. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar are similar kinds of bowlers. So, you can try to play either one of Siraj or Avesh Khan for variety. So, this can be tried out since we are already exploring the best combination for the World Cup.”
India and West Indies will take on each other in the second T20I at Eden Gardens.
