What should India’s bowling line-up look look like in the absence of Jaspreet Bumrah?

It is quite clear that Jasprit Bumrah would feature in only three Tests in the England series. But then, his absence from the remaining two matches will leave a big hole in the bowling attack. Now, the question arises, as to how the Indian attack should look like, when he is not playing. A tough pick for sure, but the Indian think tank should be prepared for this scenario.

One of the things that Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir should realise is, no bowler, even apart from Bumrah, can play all 5 Tests. Due to fatigue, their performances will dip. Bumrah should play with the other two best pacers — Prasidh Krishna and Arshdeep Singh. So, in the matches where he is not available, Mohammed Siraj can lead the pack.

That would mean, the attack would look like — Siraj, Prasidh and Arshdeep, and if the the latter two is not available, then Akash Deep comes in. The choice then comes to the pace-bowling all-rounder — which would be between Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy. As for the spinners, the management should look at Kuldeep Yadav for all the matches, apart from Ravindra Jadeja. Again, there would be room for a second spinner, if the team doesn’t want to field Thakur or Reddy.

Siraj’s strength lies in his ability to bowl the length ball and get the ball into the batter. Prasidh can hit the deck hard and will get additional bounce from any track. Then comes Arshdeep, who has valuable experience in playing in English conditions — and can move the ball both ways + is a left-hander. Shardul comes with ability to strike when others are failing. So, these are the things that the management will have to look at.

India Test squad for England: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc, wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudarshan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.