You need the big boys to go in and play – R Sridhar picks India’s bowling attack for T20 World Cup

Former India’s fielding coach R Sridhar has picked the team’s bowling attack for the T20 World Cup. Sridhar wants India’s main bowlers – Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami – to be India’s first choice bowlers in the final XI.

While Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar are expected to be in the starting line-up, there are doubts over Shami’s selection. Shami had recently played in the ODI series against England and had featured in white-ball team after a long time.

Apart from these three, R Sridhar feels Hardik Pandya will also play a crucial role in the fast bowling department.

On the other hand, bowlers like Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan and Harshal Patel have also made a case for themselves with their impressive performances.

Speaking on cricket.com on Thursday, Sridhar said: “When it comes to World Cup, when it comes to big tournaments you need the big boys to go in and play and these three (Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bumrah & Shami) are the big boys as far as fast bowling is concerned and backed by another big boy Hardik Pandya.”

Meanwhile, Shami had played his last T20I for India when they had locked horns against Namibia in the T20I World Cup 2021. However, Sridhar feels Shami can ask the right questions with the new ball while Jadeja can also chip in with the ball as an all-rounder.

“I think we have a problem of plenty isn’t it? I mean, we are blessed with that. At the moment, I think our top three fast bowlers will be Bumrah, Shami and Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar).”If you have this, you have an absolute banker, a new bowler and a death-ball bowler in Bhuvi, provided he’s in the best shape of his fitness. You have Mohammad Shami who will come up with a new ball and ask a lot of questions to the best opening batters in the world. You can probably bowl Bhuvi two, Shami two and now that Hardik is bowling, Jadeja is another all-rounder, so you have your fifth and sixth bowlers covered.”