What Should Be India's Game Plan For The Fast-Bowling Line-up

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Cricket

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The last time India could win a Test series in England was back in 2007 when India beat England 1-0 in a three-match test series. Since then India has had a bit of hard luck beating England at their home. One of the reasons that come forward many times is that India's fast bowling line-up has failed to utilize the English conditions well. Though the current Indian fast-bowling line-up is considered one of the best in the world. Let's have a look at their stats before discussing what can be India's strategy with the fast-bowling line-up. <b><h2><center>Jasprit Bumrah</b></h2></center> Jasprit Bumrah started his test career pretty well. He went up the rankings very quickly before he got injured. Since his comeback from his injury, Bumrah hasn't been able to find the same kind of form that he had before. He is currently ranked 19th in the test rankings. <em>Jasprit Bumrah has played 3 matches in England against England and has picked up 14 wickets at an excellent average of 25.92 and strike rate of 57.1.</em> Though these were his stats before he got an injury. He played one more match (The World Test Championship) in England against New Zealand and failed to pick even a single wicket in that match. <em>His overall average in England has gone down to 32.50 and his strike rate has gone above 63.</em> <img src="https://bl6pap004files.storage.live.com/y4mKt9EbhEJ2U8LjyqcPszKeoT1jRHIRF5eRgyywgfvYwHioSQHrnQvAXsdIDMP2b8BySscJpxrHNhIhqoUkXBTHFdKVrqfQoO6PTMCsUKHq7IVxmYNpdH9SPIfH3f8rWGql3QVxFsf6nTIjdKLjVcF3ohvg8EzdvnAIaM9O1QhDI6RPqftSYVWv7i4COqlBGQV?width=660&height=397&cropmode=none" width="660" height="397" /> <b><h2><center>Mohammad Shami</b></h2></center> Mohammad Shami is predominantly a seam bowler like Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma. Though he is one of the best Indian fast bowlers and is highly accurate, he has struggled in England. He currently ranks 18th in the ICC test rankings. Mohammad Shami has played 9 matches in England and has picked up 25 wickets. <em>He has an average of 43.80 and a strike rate of 73.3.</em> These numbers really do not define how good a bowler Mohammad Shami is. Though we can't deny the fact that Mohammad Shami has struggled to perform well in England. Even in the 2018 series, he had an average of 38 and a strike rate of 64.7. <img src="https://bl6pap004files.storage.live.com/y4mONPtSyFM4vYCLdz6SNMN8COwkZ4DjzTpPOiAIM0H798An5bRvKbUC7tk5DqDNk2SIbYXSk2np1QyDIcQCKPJwgCZlX2Z87btWmVwUBrMnuJCdTUcAevHH7a3iEWp98QtfJrKjI55LSCJEaCI1XICOJYSJFZBuNvxvNKtKvfdaRk7ZZRH5kj5lEDVKs1Hmuqt?width=256&height=252&cropmode=none" width="256" height="252" /> <b><h2><center>Ishant Sharma</b></h2></center> Ishant Sharma is the most experienced fast bowler in India's Test squad currently. He made his debut for India in 2007. He is also the highest wicket-taker for India in England and the highest-ranked Indian fast bowler in Test cricket right now ranked at 16. Ishant Sharma's bowling has improved a lot in the last 2-3 years. <em>He has played 13 matches in England and has picked up 46 wickets at an average of 33.19 and strike rate of 61.4.</em> These are pretty decent stats but considering we are talking about England, he could have done much better. Though the last time India visited England, he was the highest wicket-taker for India as he kicked 18 wickets at an excellent average of 24.27 and strike rate of 50.3. <img src="https://bl6pap004files.storage.live.com/y4max7veqoXeC3Cv71__UKuy3fySBec8Ls9V94S806ljs65QXJ7B2BzYELTSmI8iTuU2XumWCfJ34cnL5UU4-fZjDb5Kb5F9ZZ1lhQbJgbCFjTG6jQKWAQ2i3ivFc-OsmwXzY-Z9rGNWMF3xeQut_3JmVd0g7U_0quvbxBCnzkxtwvuMk6krriiVaYoM9bJBW_g?width=660&height=569&cropmode=none" width="660" height="569" /> <b><h2><center>Umesh Yadav</b></h2></center> Umesh Yadav has been playing for India for a long time now but due to the presence of Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, and Shami, he hasn't been able to fix his place in the Indian playing XI. Umesh Yadav is currently ranked 30 in the ICC points table. <em>Umesh Yadav has played only one test match in England in which he picked up 3 wickets at an average of 25.33 and an average of 48</em> Though he has played only one match in England and hence it is difficult for us to compare him with the other bowlers. But Yadav performed well in the practice matches against the County XI. He picked up 3 wickets in 15 overs giving away 22 runs only. <img src="https://bl6pap004files.storage.live.com/y4mUNkLrwM484-SDJGxl1G9ECTKax8C17mZiiQCQfsTgB7AmkYmgyixQVj20NH2FQOtnNAnlIsVIixj9qGte4-cerXQPNq4k1cqO0DpH3Ctd94zjvw5WeLsDK4xpfm_rqFd7EvHsk04_um-j5GuI_nU4El7VJYgBZtrcha-2Jr0dBRnZ2C2qta3nnpR5vF4bYvU?width=470&height=377&cropmode=none" width="470" height="377" /> <b><h2><center>Mohammad Siraj</b></h2></center> Unlike the bowlers named above, Mohammad Siraj is a swing bowler. Siraj has been traveling with the Indian team for a long time now but he finally made his debut against Australia this year. He hasn't played any matches in England as of now. Though Mohammad Siraj did well in the practice match as well. <em>He picked up 2 wickets in 13 overs giving away 32 runs.</em> Mohammad Siraj has been performing quite well in first-class matches for the last few years. <img src="https://bl6pap004files.storage.live.com/y4mblIDTxte-WNYPjbAfEB4hopDyZaRJgupBPOd3J453b0bfL41KtI2Qa8HW_ljZhMJZ-JSFrDVUWXANG-GwjBt2GqE3g_J7hMTSWKYzdiIBgLcLHL3xsvkFkvjF3Df8Y945FtP9sFwIQKH9qSbyUzlg0AR_irQjHmXmnH8UQ6wrPonfp8-OLKmBOJWWAa8Lqva?width=540&height=546&cropmode=none" width="540" height="546" /> <b><h2><center>Shardul Thakur</b></h2></center> Shardul Thakur is also a newbie. He is also predominantly a swing bowler. He made his debut in Australia this year and performed very well in his debut match. Even Shardul Thakur hasn't played in England before. He had a decent performance in the practice match. <em>He picked up 1 wicket in 14 overs giving away 31 runs.</em> <img src="https://bl6pap004files.storage.live.com/y4mkbodAYFUAXzWDRDYpcqxXqV_PuGtsVxF18inDiDconuHabjq0YOwzrhINgwD9s1ZSeo4ppXs5iVDcBG1LVf6Hdah8gZuDQvam4Wd33Eer7qLo8R5zz_jPLZumat8uHfh6mX7b5-327lmJ3OswsNplpxnLUlhX5sADCBVRm4KGEcqIBjVOTT8egW9vDDsoi3-?width=316&height=300&cropmode=none" width="316" height="300" /> <b><h2><center>General Trend Amongst Fast Bowlers In England</b></h2></center> Even though it is said that England supports all kinds of fast bowlers (seam and swing), the general trend shows that swing bowlers outperform seam bowlers quite often. England's two of the best bowlers, i.e. James Anderson and Stuart Broad are swing bowlers. Even amongst Indian bowlers, Zaheer Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have had much better stats than seam bowlers like Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammad Shami. <em>Zaheer Khan has played 8 matches in England and has picked up 31 wickets at an average of 27.96 and strike rate of 57.4. Bhuvneshwar Kumar played 5 matches in England and picked 19 wickets at an average of 26.63 and a strike rate of 54.5.</em> Their stats are much better than the current seam bowlers. <b><h2><center>Conclusion</b></h2></center> The Indian team should look at the performances of swing bowlers in England and pick their team accordingly. Unfortunately, they have only two swing bowlers with them right now and they are highly inexperienced at the international level. In my opinion, <b>India should play Mohammad Siraj in place of Mohammad Shami in England.</b> They should play at least 4 fast bowlers in England and shouldn't repeat the same mistake they did in the World test Championship. <b>According to their needs, they must pick Umesh Yadav (a better fast bowler) or Shardul Thakur (a good fast bowler, with some batting skills).</b> India would like to start the new season of the World Test Championship on a winning note. Hopefully, they would be able to pick the correct players in the team.

- Ojas Srivastava, 09:35 PM, 25 Jul, 2021