Bowling woes for Team India in Asia Cup 2022

All the hype is around the high-voltage match between India and arch-rival Pakistan in the upcoming Asia Cup.

However, there are also other teams in the fray and a team has to perform consistently in all the departments to enter Super Four stage.

As far as India is concerned, absence of experienced pacer Jasprit Bumrah, and to an extent T20 specialist bowler Harshal Patel, would be a challenge.

If we take a look at the bowling department, India have veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has returned with a bang. The Men in Blue have also the raw Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh in their rank. The team is dependent on all-rounder Hardik Pandya to deliver his four overs in every game. 

India is most likely to field Yuzvendra Chahal as he will share the spin department with Ravindra Jadeja and presumably Deepak Hooda. In that case, veteran Ravichandran Ashwin and promising Ravi Bishnoi will only be considered as back-ups for the spin department.

UAE pitches are mainly batting pitches and teams will expect to chase big scores. In this case, long batting line-up with four specialist bowlers and an all-rounder will be the ideal team composition for most of the sides. Bowling will only be the second string. 

In any frontline bowlers get an injury that will be a major concern for the defending champions. Performances of Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh will be crucial for India. They have shown promise in the past. But on docile pitches in UAE, their challenge will be quite different.

Bowling is certainly the weakest link for India. However they are hopeful that they will balance it with their strong batting line-up.