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India is the only side which hasn’t been bowled out in this World Cup. They are also the only side to have bowled out every opposition team they have come across.
The last three teams they faced, could not even cross 150. England were bowled out for 129, Sri Lanka for 55 and South Africa, the side with most runs in the tournament, were shot out for 83. That’s how good the Indian bowlers have been. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav were more than a handful The addition of Mohammed Shami from the halfway stage due to an unfortunate injury to Hardik Pandya has made them almost invincible.
Shami has 16 wickets in this World Cup in just 4 matches. His average is 7 and an economy rate of 4.3. Bumrah is not far behind with 15 wickets in 8 matches at an average of 15.53 and an economy rate of 3.65. Jadeja is India’s most successful spinner so far with 14 scalps in 8 matches. Kuldeep has 12 to his name while Siraj has accounted for 10.
If Bumrah and Siraj don’t get you with the new ball, Shami will. If you get past the new ball, Jadeja will tie you down then Kuldeep will work his magic. Bumrah will return with the old ball, using all his mastery with slower ones, bouncers and yorkers. Before you know it, the match is gone. This has been the story of almost every team against India. The Rohit Sharma-led side has conceded more than 200 only thrice in 8 matches.
Naturally, there has been talk on whether this Indian bowling attack is the best ever in white-ball cricket. While there are many takers for this idea, former India captain Sourav Ganguly is not one of those.
“I can’t say this is the best-ever Indian pace attack to date. In the 2003 World Cup, (Ashish) Nehra, Zaheer (Khan), and (Javagal) Srinath also bowled brilliantly,” Ganguly told Sports Tak.
Ganguly is not wrong. It is probably not fair to compare bowling attacks of different eras. Under his captaincy, Zaheer (18 wickets), Srinath (16) and Nehra (15) played a pivotal run to take India to the finals in South Africa in the 2003 World Cup.
The former BCCI president, however, was full of praise for Shami, Bumrah and Siraj.
“But yeah, it’s exciting to see Bumrah, Shami and Siraj bowl. It’s a big difference when you have Bumrah. There’s pressure from both ends as it is always about bowing in pairs. Bumrah makes a massive impact on the other two as well,” he added.
Ganguly added that Shami should have played from the beginning. “Yes, Shami should have played in the XI a lot earlier. Look at the impact he has made.”
If bowlers have been on song, the batting department has been led by captain Rohit Sharma and talisman Virat Kohli. Both of them have been in stellar form and have received good support from Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul. India, who are chasing a record ninth World Cup victory in a row – their current best is 8 wins in a row in 2003 and 2015 – will face Netherlands in their last group-stage match on Sunday in Bengaluru. Their semi-final in probability will be against New Zealand on November 15 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
