The much-awaited transition in Tests finally got underway when the Indian team management decided to drop Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav from the Rohit Sharma-led squad. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad got the nod and Navdeep Saini made a Test return after that famous series win Down Under. India will begin the new World Test Championship cycle with the two Tests vs West Indies and the seam bowling department, in the absence of rested Mohammed Shami, looks over-reliant on Mohammed Siraj and wears an inexperienced look.
In the last WTC cycle (2021-2023), the bulk of the seam bowling load was shared by Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj. When Bumrah missed matches due to injury, Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav chipped in when they were summoned and the likes of Jaydev Unadkat, Avesh Khan, Navdeep Saini and Mukesh Kumar were ready and waiting for a chance. The management had ready options available and the A tours played a huge role in helping these domestic performers take the next step.
(Indian seamers in 2021-2023 WTC cycle. Stats compiled by Bansal Shah)
The seamers who were waiting for the chance in the last WTC cycle are now being eased into the Test set-up but their promotion has become a cause of worry as there are not many names in the domestic circuit which look ready to become the new lot of backups. Avesh Khan is the only name which comes to mind and he is likely to feature in the new WTC cycle. Apart from Avesh, Baltej Singh (Punjab) and Akash Deep (Bengal) are the two bowlers who have done well in the last two editions of the Ranji Trophy but they need to be tested and groomed with A tours. Baltej, 32, needs to find a way to keep his fitness game strong as he is a skilful bowler who can move the ball both ways.
The 2022-23 edition of the Ranji Trophy, which returned to the home and away format, was dominated by spinners and only three seamers featured in the list of top ten wicket-takers.
The possible options
The upcoming Duleep Trophy, which gets underway in Bengaluru from June 28, should give the selectors a fair idea of the crop they need to groom for the future. There are some talented names in the various squads for the prestigious zonal tournament and a roadmap must be prepared to groom them for the red-ball format. Arshdeep Singh is another youngster, currently looked at as a white-ball bowler, who can be groomed into a red-ball bowler. He has done well for Punjab in the longer format during his age-group days and is currently undergoing the County grind in England.
V Kaverappa, V Vyshak, Yash Thakur, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Arzan Nagwaswalla, Chetan Sakariya and Ishan Porel are some talented bowlers in the mix and a good show in the Duleep Trophy should improve their chances for India A selection, whenever the tours resume. BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirmed at the SGM last month that shadow/A tours are set to resume and NCA head VVS Laxman is already in conversation with England and New Zealand.
The shadow tours played a role in developing the fast bowlers who are now part of the Test squad for the West Indies series and to have the next crop ready, it’s important a systematic approach is followed to keep replacements ready on the sidelines.
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News18 CricketNext spoke to numerous domestic bowlers and all were on the same page when asked about the importance of A tours. For them, those matches are as good as playing for the senior team because top players from respective countries participate and put even the best to the test. More than the technical aspect, it’s the mental preparation which does a world of good to a player’s confidence.
Most will be glued to the India-West Indies Test series from July 12 but the Duleep Trophy starting in a couple of days will give a good sneak peek into India’s seam bowling backups.
India’s Test squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.
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