Former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer believes that in the absence of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, India frequently lacks sixth and seventh bowling options, which is a concern heading into the 2023 World Cup.
When the Men in Blue won the World Cup in 2011, they had plenty of bowling options, according to Jaffer.
Wasim Jaffer on Team India
The third and final match of the three-match ODI series between Team India and New Zealand was called off due to rain in Christchurch, leaving Team India with a 1-0 loss. When the game was interrupted by rain with New Zealand on 104/1 in 18 overs, India’s batting performance in the match had been poor as the team had collapsed on 218. The first One-Day International, which remained the only game that was finished throughout the series, was won by Kane Williamson’s team by seven wickets.
Wasim Jaffer discussed the Indian bowling attack after the match.
“India do miss. If you see the teams of 2010 and even before, a lot of batters used to bowl. India had that luxury when Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Sourav Ganguly used to bowl. In this team, you don’t see many batters do that,” Jaffer said.
Deepak Hooda, an all-rounder who did not bowl in the ODIs but took a four-wicket haul in the T20 series, is being groomed as the team’s sixth bowling option.
Jaffer, on the other hand, praised all-rounder Washington Sundar for his heroics with the bat during the ODI series against New Zealand. The off-spinner could only be used in powerplay overs, he clarified. Sundar would only get better over time, the veteran added.
Jaffer also praised the top three batters for their outstanding ODI series performances, but he appeared dissatisfied with the other batters.
“Shubman Gill looked good, Shikhar Dhawan looked good as well, and Shreyas Iyer, but other than that, I thought the batting display was way below par,” he added.
