The Indian cricket team face some tough questions when they kick off their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign against Ireland on June 5, 2024. Despite entering the last two editions as favourites, the Men in Blue failed to reach the finals with disappointing performances.
Once again, Rohit Sharma's men are set to enter the ICC tournament as favourites and the world no.1 T20I side. Majority of the selected played were impressive in the recent IPL 2024 but uncertainty remains over India's bowling unit.
Keeping Jasprit Bumrah aside, all selected bowlers proved costly in the IPL 2024 and many experts are seeing it as India's biggest weakness going into the tournament in the USA and West Indies starting on June 1. The former Indian bowler RP Singh, who played crucial role in the 2007 T20 World Cup triumph, outlined India's potential bowling strategy during the World Championship of Legends event in New Delhi.
RP Singh talked about Hardik Pandya's bowling performance in the IPL 2024 and said it will be a bonus fr India if he would deliver four overs in a game. Indian management is expected to utilise Hardik as the sixth bowling option in the upcoming tournament.
"Hardik bowled in the IPL and bowled four overs so there's no injury scare," RP Singh told PTI. "Hardik's bowling will be important and he will have to bowl all his quota of 4-overs. If Shivam Dube bowls too, then it will be an added advantage for India ahead. Shivam may not play some matches initially but whenever he plays, he will perform well and score runs for India."
RP further added that the left-arm Arshdeep Singh should be bowling ahead of Mohammed Siraj in death overs. Arshdeep picked 19 wickets but conceded runs at an economy rate of over 10 in the recent IPL 2024 while Siraj claimed 15 wickets. The former pacer stated that Siraj can be more impactful with a new ball as Arshdeep offers more variations.
"Death bowling is really important in T20 cricket. Bumrah may bowl three overs in the death. He is our mainstay there. My preference alongside Bumrah in the death is Arshdeep over Siraj because of the variations he has. I think Siraj can be impactful in a game when he is bowling with the new ball. Otherwise, it should be Bumrah and Arshdeep." RP Singh added.
