The Indian fast bowling contingent currently comprises of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami with Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur providing assistance to them.

However, if you have noticed, there is a pattern emerging and that pattern is that all of the fast bowlers, that Indian team currently has available, are right handed. This means that though we have good bowlers who have variety in their bowling, something vital is missing.

That something vital was pointed out by India’s bowling Coach Bharat Arun, when he said that Team India required a left handed fast bowler. Left handed fast bowlers were a norm in Indian cricket until recently. Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, RP Singh and Irfan Pathan are some of the left arm fast bowlers who made their mark for India.

Now with right handed bowlers dominating, a need for left arm bowler arises because he creates a totally new angle for the batsmen to face. And if they can bring the ball into the right handed batsmen, it spells more trouble to the batsmen.

Keeping that in mind, we have chosen 5 of the best left arm fast bowlers currently in Indian cricket to choose from, in current scenario.

(Click on next page to see which 5 left arm quicks can make it into Team India)

Barinder Sran

Barinder Sran has played for India previously, picking 7 wickets in 6 ODIs and 6 wickets in 2 T20Is. He made an impressive debut against Australia in T20Is, registering figures of 4/10 and helping India win the match.

Sran has a good and easy to repeat action and bowls with decent pace. Yuvraj Singh had said about Sran that he reminds him of a young Zaheer Khan and with such comparisons, Sran has a big task ahead of him of proving, that he can bring that required edge to the Indian bowling lineup.

Sreenath Arvind

Sreenath Arvind made his debut for India in the T20I against South Africa in Dharamshala. He took 1/44 in his 4 overs. However, he was noticed by fans and experts alike thanks to his exploits for RCB in IPL 2016, where his bowling aided the RCB batting, taking them to the finals.

Arvind is not an out and out quick bowler, but prefers to bring in variety in his deliveries. He knows his capabilities and limitations and bowls well within that frame. His bowling can help India during the death overs, where India leaks the runs in heaps.

T Natarajan

T Natarajan is a surprise package that grabbed everyone's attention during Tamil Nadu Premier League or TNPL. He played for Dindigul Dragons and impressed everyone with his clever and impressive bowling both at the beginning and during the death overs. He drew comparisons with Bangladesh's sensation Mustafizur Rahman, thanks to his bowling action and similarities in styles.

His performances made quite a noise and it attract a bid from Kings XI Punjab during the IPL 2017 and Natarajan bowled exceptionally well against established Indian and international players. His ability to bowl a mean yorker has set him apart from rest of the left arm quicks bowlers.

Aniket Choudhary

Rajasthan’s tall left arm quick Aniket Chaudhary might also be considered for B Arun’s left arm pacer role in Team India. He impressed everyone with his bowling for RCB during their dismal IPL 2017 season. He has 125 wickets in 40 FC games for Rajasthan and played for India A against South Africa A recently.

Chaudhary bowls quick and is a 'hit the deck' bowler, who gets lots of bounce from any surface. He also swings the ball, which gives him the added advantage, thanks to his speed and makes batsmen more uncomfortable facing him. He has an outside chance to play for India, or atleast make it in the squad, with the host of ODIs and T20Is coming India’s way.

Jaydev Unadkat

Perhaps a more deserving entry in the list, Jaydev Unadkat has completely transformed himself from the bowler we saw in 2010 against South Africa at Centurion on his Test debut. Then, he didn’t have the pace or the guile to trouble the batsmen of international quality, but his exploits for Rising Pune Supergiant during IPL 2017 is indication enough that he is back to reclaim his place in the Indian team.

Unadkat returned with more pace and swing than he had before and played an important role in RPS reaching the finals of the tournament. He took a hat-trick and a 5-fer during the competition, showing his new found pace and swing. 

Given that he has played a lot more for India than the other four bowlers in the list, it seems that he will fit better in Team India’s plans.