Who will take wickets in the middle order? Shubman Gill pins hopes on tall, fast bowler Cricket News
times of india.com chennai: One of India’s biggest concerns ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup is their inability to attack consistently in the midfield. Between the 20th and 35th rounds, teams usually seek to consolidate before initiating death rounds, but breakthroughs can only be sporadic.This trend has been evident in recent bilateral series. Against Australia, India picked up just four wickets at that stage in three games and New Zealand further exposed the issue as India went wicketless in the middle stages of the Rajkot and Indore ODIs, ultimately losing the matches. South Africa’s future looks brighter Kuldeep YadavHarshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna took a total of nine wickets in the three games.The Afghanistan series continues with mixed returns. India picked up 5 wickets in the rain-shortened ODI in Dharamshala and another 5 wickets in Lucknow but managed just 1 mid-order wicket in Chennai despite dominating the match. Interestingly, the team management seems to have lost faith in left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, India’s true wicket-taker in the middle order, Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill A solution will need to be found.Captain Gill believes the answer lies with India’s tall fast bowlers: Gunur Brar, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana, who he feels are capable of creating chances even if the conditions don’t offer much help.“Honestly, the type of combinations and bowlers we are trying to play are part of what we are building on. We want to create as many chances as possible,” Gill told reporters after India’s 3-0 win over Afghanistan.“In the middle stages, we saw that once the ball gets old on a good wicket and there are only four fielders outside the circle, the batting becomes much easier. That’s why we try to use bowlers like Prasidh and Harshit. They are tall, fast bowlers who offer us something different.“At the same time, it is also important to give enough rotation to guys like Nitish Kumar Reddy in the middle order, even though we know there may be better options for those conditions that can get us wickets. It’s important for a player like him to gain the confidence to go into the World Cup. “Jill added.Gill said India’s young fast bowlers are being trained to adapt quickly to different surfaces by identifying the ideal length early on. On clay wickets, he wanted them to bowl a fuller ball, while black soil pitches required a slightly shorter length.The focus, he said, is to consistently hit the top of the stumps around the fourth stump area, which is the most difficult line for batsmen to score runs. India will also want its pacers to use their natural bounce to continue creating wicket-taking opportunities, even if this occasionally results in extra runs.“It’s about assessing wickets. Different wickets require different lengths. On a wicket like this, you have to bowl a little fuller, whereas on a black soil wicket, you might have to bowl a little shorter. What we have to do as a bowling unit is assess the conditions early on and consistently hit the top of the stumps, the full area of the stumps, because that’s the hardest ball to score on,” he said.“At the same time, we want to continue to exploit the bounce. It also creates opportunities for the batsmen to score runs, but it also creates opportunities for us to take wickets.”Gill looked very satisfied with the performance of the Indian rhythm quartet in this series. This is the first series for the likes of Gurnoor Brar and Prince Yadav, and the captain sees it as an encouraging sign.
“It’s very encouraging. It’s a good sign for Indian cricket that we can continue to produce fast bowlers who can bowl 140-plus consistently,” said Gill, who was named Player of the Series.“We have a group of tall, fast bowlers who can hit the right areas and still create chances with the old ball, even when the wickets or conditions don’t help much.”Among tall and fast bowlers, Gunoor Brar is probably the man of the series. The six-foot-five pacer picked up seven wickets in three games, bowling fast and getting good bounce on the surface. But Gill believes Brar still has a lot to learn going forward and hopes the 26-year-old pacer will only grow in confidence from here.“I think he ticks most of the boxes. Some things only come with experience and hopefully he can continue to grow as a bowler.“If I have to be very critical, he did concede a few runs and was a bit inconsistent at times. But he is young, playing his first series at the highest level and he bowls fast. He has all the qualities we want in a young, tall, fast bowler and he will only get better with experience,” Gill said.Prasidh Krishna, another tall and fast bowler, bowled Afghanistan with some pace and bounce on the pitch in Chennai and produced a sensational bowling performance to win his maiden ODI five for one.“The good thing he gave us was that we saw a good bounce on the wicket early on and the ball did some work,” Gill said while praising his Gujarat Titans teammate.“If he keeps hitting those areas, he can create a lot of chances for us as bowlers. If he continues to do this, it will be a good thing for the team. “Gill said India are maintaining flexibility in their fast bowling scheme rather than assigning fixed roles. and Jasprit Bumrah Expected to return to the England tour, he said Bumrah can use the new ball and Prasidh Krishna is equally capable of doing so if the need arises.
Should Kuldeep Yadav be trusted for more rotation despite his inconsistent performances of late?
“It’s all about flexibility. There’s not a set role,” Gill said.The captain added that the management encourages the bowlers to adapt to different combinations and bowl with maximum intensity.“We are trying different combinations and we are encouraging our bowlers to give it their all whether they are playing with a new ball or changing the ball for the first time,” he said.“We have discussed giving bowlers like Prasidh and Gunur a shorter period of three to four overs and asking them to go all out and bowl as fast as possible.”Whether this experiment ultimately succeeds will only be revealed as the World Cup approaches, but the direction India is headed is clear. Instead of relying solely on wrist spin to achieve a Super League breakthrough, the management has invested in a group of tall, fast bowlers who can bounce, hit hard and force turnovers even on calm surfaces. If Gunur Brar, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana continue to develop, India could go into the World Cup with a very different midfield blueprint.
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