India will be without their pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah in the three-match ODI series against Australia and former India captain Sourav Ganguly feels that is an area of concern for the visitors going into the series.
Bumrah, who was originally a part of the squad, was asked to rest after the grueling four-match Test series against Australia, where he played all the matches and returned with 21 wickets -- the most along with Australia's Nathan Lyon in the series.
Hyderabad seamer Mohammed Siraj was drafted into the squad as a replacement but Ganguly feels that Bumrah's absence along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar's lack of match-time can hurt India in the three-match series.
"Without Bumrah the bowling does become weak. Bumrah had a different effect in the Test series. Shami is there, who I feel is a good bowler...this is however, a new bowling attack in ODIs. Khaleel [Ahmed] is not that experienced. The bowler from Hyderabad [Mohammed Siraj] has been given a chance. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is there...so the attack is little weak.
"Also Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be playing ODI or any form of cricket after a while because he didn't get to play the four-Test series. So, he will be a little rusty to begin with. So, this could be an area of concern for India in Australia on good tracks," Ganguly said in IndiaTV's show Cricket Ki Baat.
However, he added that the series could be decided on how the Australians play Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal in the middle-overs.
"Sydney is a flat track, so there will be pressure. [Ravindra] Jadeja is there as a spinner. Kuldeep and Chahal are there, so the spin attack is good and like England, we said that they will only win the series if they play the spinners well. In Nottingham, Kuldeep took five wickets and India won the game but after that, they played him differently.
"So, the way the will play Kuldeep and Chahal, will decide who takes the match. So, I believe the fast bowling department is a little inexperienced and weak and the Bumrah effect is not there that creates a lot of difference," Ganguly said.
The visitors will also be without Hardik Pandya, who has been suspended pending enquiry regarding his comments in Karan Johar's chat show Koffee with Karan and will soon fly back to India along with KL Rahul -- who was also handed the same fate by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) led Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
India squad: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul*, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya*, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, K Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Shami
*These players have been suspended temporarily and are likely to return home
