Former India fast-bowler Venkatesh Prasad has tipped India’s pace bowling attack comprising Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami to shine for India at the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup commencing May 30.
Although there has been a major talk about how flat wickets and fast outfield could make it difficult for bowlers at the quadrennial event in England, Prasad likened the trio to a “keg of dynamite”, saying opposition batsmen won’t have it easy against them.
“All three understand situations very well and know their own strengths,” Prasad was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
“As a bowler, you must have the maturity to assess a batsman and the trio has it in them. As a fast bowler, you need to understand your strengths and when to use it against a particular batsman. They do that with a lot of precision,” he added.
India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday had termed the spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal as “pillars” of India’s bowling attack, going into the World Cup. But Prasad believes India’s pace battery could prove to be the key on any day given their variety in attack.
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“Bhuvi bowls close to 140kmph, while the other two consistently bowl in the mid-140s. The beauty of their bowling is in the fact that they can move the ball at that pace. This doesn’t happen often with other pacers because the quicker you get, the shorten the length gets. Then, you don’t get to move the ball much. In the case of India’s fast bowlers, all three have the pace and bowl up to the batsmen,” said the former India bowling coach.
After opening their campaign against South Africa on June 5, India will take on Australia (June 9), New Zealand (June 13) and Pakistan (June 16).
And Kohli has said that the highly-rated bowling line-up is ready for the challenges ahead.
“All the bowlers in the squad, even in the IPL, they were preparing themselves for 50-over cricket. You saw all the guys bowling, no one looked tired after bowling four overs. They were very fresh.
“The ultimate goal at the back of their mind was always to be fit for the 50-over format and not necessarily let the fitness come down. This was communicated to them before the IPL started,” he said.