Ajit Agarkar has highlighted that he will keenly watch the performances of the Indian bowlers in the ODI series against the West Indies. He pointed out that bowling is no longer Team India’s strong suit in the 50-over format of the game.
The Indian team will field a slightly new-look seam-bowling attack in the ODI series against Kieron Pollard’s side. While Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur have been picked as seam-bowling all-rounders, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Avesh Khan will lend the required pace to the attack.
Ajit Agarkar: India Looking At Options, Bowling Is Certainly A Weak Area For India
During a discussion on the Star Sports show Game Plan, Ajit Agarkar was asked about the composition of the Indian bowling attack.
He responded: “They are looking at options, that’s a good thing because clearly, India needed options. Very keen to see how the bowlers go because, which wasn’t the case, it is certainly a weak area for the Indian team.”
The former India cricketer added that the Rohit Sharma-led side cannot rely on just a couple of pacers.
Ajit Agarkar elaborated: “I don’t think you can rely on one or two guys, whether it is a Bumrah or a Shami. You need depth, there is enough depth but you need to give people opportunities. I think that’s what they are looking at.”
Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been the spearheads of the Indian seam-bowling attack in limited-overs cricket. However, with the latter being out of sorts for a considerable while, Team India will certainly look at other options to fill the void.
Meanwhile, the Indian bowling unit for the upcoming ODI series against West Indies consists of, bowling all-rounders spinner Washington Sundar, pacers Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur. The pace department consists of Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Avesh Khan. Besides Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi are three frontline spinners.
Ajit Agarkar Hopes Mohammed Siraj And Prasidh Krishna Get To Play All 3 ODIs
Ajit Agarkar was also specifically asked about the pace trio of Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Avesh Khan.
He replied: “I hope Siraj and Prasidh Krishna if they start, get all three games in this series because it is not easy for any bowler to settle in white-ball cricket. At times, it is slightly easier in Test cricket, you get time as a bowler.”
The 44-year-old concluded by naming Mohammed Siraj as the most exciting prospect among the pace-bowling pack.
Ajit Agarkar reasoned: “Siraj without a doubt is a frontrunner for me because he has the ability to bowl with the new ball, to take wickets in the middle and he has good yorkers at the end. Obviously, he will keep getting better with experience but for me, he is clearly the frontrunner at the moment.”
Mohammed Siraj has played one ODI for Team India to date, which was against Australia in January 2019. He failed to pick up a wicket and conceded 76 runs in his 10-over spell but has grown as a bowler since especially in Tests.
Mohammed Siraj made his Test debut in the boxing day Test in Melbourne in 2020 and since then he hasn’t looked back. In this third test at Gabba, he picked a match-winning fifer to script a historic series win in Australia. Then in the same year, he again picked 8 wickets in a Test match at Lord’s to guide India to another miraculous win on the final day. So far in his 12 Test match career, he picked 36 wickets in 12 Test matches with an average of 29.63.
He has become the go-to bowler in the T20s as well. In IPL 2021, he picked only 11 wickets in 15 games but conceded runs with an exceptional economy of 6.78 despite bowling crucial overs in powerplay and death. He has been selected in both T20I and ODI squad for the series against West Indies and he is likely to lead the attack in absence of Jaspit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.