Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan rang alarm bells for Indian team management as he urged them to prepare a good-paced bowling unit with adequate backups. India is already without the services of Mohammad Shami, who was ruled out due to a knee issue.
Indian pacer attack, barring Jasprit Bumrah looked pedestrian in the first Test against South Africa in Centurion as Shardul Thakur and debutant Prasidh Krishna looked poor and couldn’t give the support Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj needed.
Irfan Pathan cited the absence of Shami and the lack of a good pace bowling unit while looking back at India’s loss. He was quick to mention that the selectors, in the wake of the Centurion loss, have to create a pool of 7-8 fast bowlers to pick from. He felt that as the Indian bowlers conceded 408 runs in the first innings at the SuperSport Park, without Mohammad Shami.
He warned the team management that if Jasprit Bumrah unfortunately incurs an injury as well, the pace unit will struggle even more.
“India needs to build a good fast-bowling unit. Look what happened in South Africa. The back-ups weren't just ready. I won't say that they lack quality, but since they weren't ready, you felt Shami's absence. So that means, God forbid, if something happens to Bumrah, who we have seen has suffered from an injury owing to his bowling action, we won't find any bowler of his quality. So India needs to prepare a pool of 7-8 fast bowlers either through talent hunts or through Ranji Trophy,” Pathan said on Star Sports.
Pathan also urged the BCCI to focus on the leadership aspect, on who should replace Rohit Sharma as the next all-format skipper. Pathan feels that India should pick a leader more like Virat Kohli, who is fit enough to regularly play across formats, while also having 2-3 options in hand.
“Second is leadership. 2024 will witness a whole lot of changes, so if India can prepare 2-3 possible leaders, then it won't trouble the team. But they also need to focus on the kind of leader they want to prepare. Under Virat Kohli, in those five years, India was brilliant in Test cricket and reached the No. 1 ranking. Overall, he is extremely fit as a cricketer and hence played almost all the matches, performed as well, and got the team to perform. Even Rohit Sharma got the team to perform in the World Cup and won the Asia Cup as well. India needs a captain who can play regularly, so he has to be fit enough for the role,” he added.
