It’s a good idea to pose a question now that pacers Navdeep Saini and Gaurav Yadav have replaced Umran Malik and Muhammad Siraj from the Duleep Trophy squads, respectively, as India looks to advance to the third ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final: Is there a deeper issue with India’s test setup?
In August 2025, Rohit Sharma’s squad would have participated in 16 Test matches (11 abroad) if they advanced to the WTC final at Lord’s the following year. The ensemble cast seems to be in place. The lack of backup seamers, who are prepared to fly in unfamiliar conditions, is a serious worry as the marathon approaches in September.
For the forthcoming Duleep Trophy, the national selectors have gone all out, selecting 21 seam-bowling alternatives with a mix of First-Class and international experience, as Jasprit Bumrah has been rested, Mohammad Shami has not yet recovered to full fitness, and Siraj is unwell. The red-ball competition, which has been of little consequence for years, serves as a useful testing ground for pacers before the November Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia and the Test series between Bangladesh and New Zealand.
For their first five-match Test series in Australia in thirty years, India’s pace department will be anchored by Bumrah, Shami (fitness topic), and Siraj. Take a moment to consider their backups. The seamen who are fourth and fifth? hazy.
Finding the suitable ones and providing them with opportunity to prepare for the trip to Australia are the key tasks. In the IPL, many bowlers reach speeds of 140–150 kph. Thus, the key is to develop them and provide them with the appropriate exposure, as former India bowling coach Bharat Arun explains.https://fugentimes.news/
Wealth or lofty ideals?
India has used 30 seam bowlers in all forms from January 2020. At least one Test included thirteen of them. Just six of these 13 bowlers are still in the system as of the 2024–25 season, despite the fact that 11 of them competed in international settings.
In 2021, Ishant Sharma’s career came to an end after 105 Tests.The 36-year-old Umesh Yadav’s last appearance was in the home 2023 WTC final versus Australia. Due to a subpar journey to South Africa last year, Shardul Thakur, who is presently out injured, appears to have fallen out of favour. After 12 years, T Natarajan faded away, and Jaydev Unadkat made a brief comeback in 2022.
India has fielded three pacers in rotation for a total of six Test matches in 2023–24: Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, and Akash Deep. This is their response to the recession and transition. They are still very much in the running to make the Australia tour squad and beyond.
India still has some time to prepare, according to Bharat, but red-ball overs are crucial.
“There has to be a debut. It is a red ball cricket thing that these bowlers have to adjust to. Although we have time, we must get ready by allowing them to have adequate experience with overs.
The pacers on the show have very little experience playing in Test matches, as Siraj was ruled out of the Duleep Trophy first round owing to sickness.
The closest is the Bengal pair of Mukesh and Akash, who have scored 895 and 827 runs, respectively, since 2019–20. Avesh Khan of Madhya Pradesh, who has taken 106 wickets in 750 overs but has not yet made his Test debut, has also been a reliable presence in the first-class format. Similar to Siraj’s local grind, Avesh was also exposed to conditions in England, the West Indies, and South Africa via the India A system.
