Jasprit Bumrah has taken 319 wickets for India in international matches, averaging 22.48. He’s known for his exceptional bowling skills, highlighted by his best performance of 6/19 in England. Alongside Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Bumrah is one of the highest-paid players (Grade A) by BCCI.
However, a back injury sidelined him last year, causing him to miss the Asia Cup 2022, ICC T20 World Cup 2022, and the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023. During his absence, other bowlers have impressed with their strong performances for Team India.
Here are 5 pacers who have shown they deserve a spot in the Indian cricket team.
5. Umran Malik
Umran Malik is the first player on this list. When Jasprit Bumrah was absent, Umran Malik had many chances in recent matches. However, he is not a regular player for the team right now. He was considered expensive in T20 matches, so he didn’t get many chances last year.
But in recent ODI and T20 matches, Umran Malik performed well. He took 13 wickets in 8 ODIs and 11 wickets in 8 T20Is. His average is 27.31 in ODIs and 22.09 in T20Is. With such a good performance in both formats so far, some believe he should play regularly in all three formats instead of Jasprit Bumrah.
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4. T Natarajan
T Natarajan is a fast bowler who showed his talent in the Indian Cricket Team. In December 2020, many pacers were injured during a series against Australia, giving Natarajan a chance to debut internationally. He performed brilliantly.
He took 3 wickets in his only Test match, 3 wickets in 2 ODIs, and 7 wickets in 4 T20Is. Despite this, he hasn’t played for India since March 2021. He has also been a key player for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL over the last few seasons.
3. Navdeep Saini
Navdeep Saini is a talented fast bowler who has represented India in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is from 2019 to 2021. He has taken 4 wickets in Tests, 6 in ODIs, and 13 in T20Is with impressive economy rates of 6.87 and 7.16 respectively. With such strong performances, Saini deserves more chances in the Indian cricket team.
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2. Umesh Yadav
Umesh Yadav is a fast bowler who has shown better performance than Jasprit Bumrah and deserves to play for the Indian team. Recently, Yadav performed well for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2022.
Later, he got a chance to play Test matches. In 2022, he played 3 Tests and took 9 wickets in 6 innings, averaging 24.11. Despite playing Tests, he hasn’t been selected for ODIs and T20Is. Considering his success last year, he should also be given chances to play in limited-overs formats.
1. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a right-arm fast bowler, was a regular part of India’s national team until the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. After India’s loss to England in the semi-final, his international career paused. Since then, he hasn’t played any international matches. Last year, he earned several Man of the Series and Man of the Match awards. In 2022, he played 2 ODIs without taking any wickets but excelled in T20Is, claiming 37 wickets in 32 games for India. His average was just 19.56, with an impressive economy rate of 6.98.
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