Asia Cup 2023: Team India need batsmen who can bowl, feels THIS Former India Opener

The Indian selectors are yet to announce the squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 or the provisional squad for the ODI Cricket World Cup 2023. One of the headaches for the Indian team in limited overs matches is the absence of quality all-rounders, if the Ravindra Jadeja is missing from the squad.

The Indian batting was exposed in the five-match T20I series loss to the West Indies recently and former India opener Aakash Chopra believes the team needs more “batsmen who can bowl” in ODIs and T20Is.

He also invited spin-bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar to be part of India’s scheme of things in the T20I format. Sundar has been picked for the three-match T20I series against Ireland, which starts on Friday in Malahide.

“Considering that most of the current Indian batsmen don’t bowl even a few overs, the Indian team needs to start pushing for bowlers who do. Yashasvi-Tilak should get a longer rope… and encourage to bowl as often as possible. Washington also needs to be in India’s T20 agenda,” Chopra said in a tweet on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Considering most of the current Indian batsmen don’t bowl even a few overs, the Indian team needs to start pushing for bowlers who do. Yashasvi-Tilak should have a longer rope_and be encouraged to bowl as often as possible. Washington should be in India’s T20 schedule

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) August 16, 2023

Indian veterans such as Rohit Sharma (11 international wickets) and Virat Kohli (eight international wickets) have not bowled in years, despite twisting their arms a bit in their early years, leaving the team short of variety and the options he could have. offered with their part-time bowling. Also, young batters like Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav have played as specialist batters.

But that was not the case with the Indian team of yesteryear, with stars like Sachin Tendulkar (201 international wickets), Virender Sehwag (136 international wickets), Sourav Ganguly (132 international wickets), Yuvraj Singh (148 international wickets) and Suresh Raina (62 international wickets) was extremely skilled with the ball and had the ability to pick up crucial wickets exactly when their team needed them.

The lack of batsmen who can bowl has made the team heavily dependent on their full-time bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, Umesh Yadav etc. . Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and bowlers Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin are the only players who provide the team with the necessary depth and options due to their potential and consistency with both bat and ball.

Tilak (14 wickets in first-class, List A and T20 cricket) and Yashasvi (seven wickets in all formats domestically) took the ball during the T20I final against the West Indies, which India lost. India lost the series 2-3. During the series, India’s batting depth was a key issue.

Notably, before the fourth T20I against the Windies, Indian bowling coach Paras Mhambrey had said that the team is working with Yashasvi and Tilak in their bowling. “When you have someone who can come in, it’s nice. I have seen Tilak and Yashasvi bowl from U19 days. They are capable of being good bowlers. They can work it at this level. When you have options like these, it’s nice to have them. We’ll see them coming in soon, hopefully, we’re working on it. It will take time. Soon, we will see them bowling at least,” Mhambrey said recently.

Team India will begin their Asia Cup 2023 campaign with a clash against arch-rivals Pakistan on September 2 in Kandy.