India’s veteran wicket-keeper bat Dinesh Karthik feels Team India will miss a left-arm seamer in the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023. India doesn’t have a left-arm seamer in their World Cup squad and it could be a chink in their bowling’s armor.
India did give opportunities to Arshdeep Singh, who did a decent job with the new ball as well as in the death overs but Karthik feels the Punjab pacer was lacking in the middle overs.
Pacers like T Natarajan have gone down in the pecking order due to injury woes whereas Mohsin Khan and Yash Dayal are still rising through the ranks.
Meanwhile, India has a potent pace battery in Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, and Mohammed Siraj. Bumrah and Shami are supposed to be the pack leaders but they have lacked game time in the recent past.
It is well known that left-arm seamers bring a different angle to the crease and add variety to the bowling line-up.
“India was clear that Arshdeep was not going to be in the scheme of things leading up to the World Cup 2023, which gives you clarity. They did not look towards that left armer as a wicket-taking option. I think what they felt with Arshdeep was that he was lacking in the middle-overs and couldn’t have the impact that he could have with the new ball,” Karthik said while speaking on Cricbuzz.
“Will they miss a left-armer, yes. If a left armer was there of that quality and form it will always make a difference. You see all good sides across the world have one left arm pacer and it will be interesting to see how the team lines up against other teams,” Karthik further added.
India will begin their World Cup campaign against Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on October 8.
India ODI World Cup Squad
Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Axar Patel, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav.
