Indian World Cup squad lacks one more genuine fast bowler, opines Gautam Gambhir

With polished fast bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami, the Indian team will be marching into the World Cup scene with one of the best pace attacks amongst the ten teams. However, former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir believes that the Men in Blue are short of another genuine fast bowling option besides the three frontline quicks.

Along with these three, Team India also has an able seam-bowling all-rounder in Hardik Pandya, then they also have Vijay Shankar. Pandya’s finesse with the bat and ball was on display in England, during the Champions Trophy 2017 and during India’s tour of England last year. However, Gambhir feels that the Indian skipper Virat Kohli should consider having another pacer available for the team due to the prevailing conditions in England and Wales.

The former opening batsman and star of the 2011 World Cup final, Gambhir believes that it’s in the best interest of the team to go for another pure pacer bowling candidate as two fast bowling all-rounders just aren’t enough.

“I feel Indian team lacks one more quality fast bowler. Bumrah, Shami and Bhuvi need more support. You may argue that India has two fast bowling all-rounders in Hardik and Vijay Shankar but I am not convinced. In the end, it boils down to getting the team combination right and sticking to it,” Gambhir was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

Gambhir names his favourites for the World Cup

While the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) shrinking policy of having just 10 teams compete in the World Cup has received a lot of flak because it deprives many top associate nations of participating, Gambhir stands by the ICC’s decision. He believes that they should continue with the current format that only allows the best teams to clash against each other in a round-robin phase before the knock-out fixtures.

“This will be a well-contested tournament as all the teams play each other. This format will give us the real world champion and I think ICC should stick to this format for all future World Cups,” said Gambhir. 

Also read- World Cup 2019: Kedar Jadhav’s participation in doubt, Axar Patel possible replacement

Talking about his favourite four who he sees as World Cup 2019 semi-finalists, Gambhir named the defending champions, the hosts of the upcoming event and the runners-up of the last World Cup. “Besides India, I will be keenly watching Australia as they are a side to beat. They have the most well-rounded bowling attack in the competition. I will also be watching New Zealand and hosts England,” he concluded.

[interaction id=”5cdada3adf3c8d219f86cf35″]

Get the latest Cricket News and updates from World Cup 2019, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.