Former Pakistan cricketer Wasim Akram feels that Indian pace bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar will struggle in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.
Wasim Akram on Bhuvneshwar Kumar
The 2022 T20 World Cup is scheduled to play in Australia between October 16 to November 13, 2022. Indian cricket was not sailing in their favorite boat after they lose their key players.
It all started when all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was ruled out of the tournament owing to an injury followed by star pacer Jasprit Bumrah missing the marquee event, for the same reason.
In the absence of Bumrah, Chahar is expected to include in the squad but he too ruled out with an injury. In the absence of key players, other pacers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, and Arshdeep Singh will have to take extra responsibility.
“India have Bhuvneshwar Kumar, he is good with the new ball, but with his pace, if the ball is not swinging, he will probably struggle there. But he is a very good bowler no doubt, swings both ways, has the yorker. But you need pace in Australia,” Akram was quoted as saying by Khaleej Times.
“You see that guy from Kashmir, Umran Malik, he is quick. India need to stick with him because he has got pace. If I was in the Indian think-tank, I would have picked him in the squad all the time,” he added.
Akram also lauded Suryakumar Yadav’s rise. “He is a very dangerous player, he is a 360 player. I saw him first time when he joined the Kolkata Knight Riders. I spent two years with him. I was amazed that the KKR let him go. He was young, he was 19 or 20 then, imagine, he would have been the (KKR) captain by now,” Wasim said.
“I think he is the future as far as the T20 format is concerned. He is a treat to watch, one of my favourite players in the format no doubt.”
India will play their first match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 against Pakistan on October 23 in Melbourne.
India squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2022
Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
Standby players – Mohd. Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi
