Ishant Sharma elaborated on the uncapped pacer’s lackluster debut performance in the 2023 Indian Premier League.
The growth of the next generation of fast bowlers across all formats of the game has been one of Team India’s main concerns over the past few months.
Only Mohammed Shami has been a consistent member of the Indian XI among the four over the past year.
Ishant Sharma is no longer in the team, Jasprit Bumrah has ongoing health issues, and Umesh Yadav was also dropped from the team earlier this week.
Shami was also given a break for the upcoming West Indies tour. Mohammed Siraj will be in charge of the pace attack.
Ishant Sharma named 3 pacers who can deliver consistently for India
Ishant identified three fast bowlers who have the potential to make an impact in Indian cricket during an appearance on YouTuber Raveer Allahbadia’s podcast.
“Umran Malik has the potential to serve the nation well for a very long time if you cooperate with him effectively. Arshdeep Singh would be the other”, Ishant said.
The pacer also identified Mukesh Kumar, a 29-year-old Bengal pacer who played alongside Ishant for the Delhi Capitals during the just-completed Indian Premier League season.
Mukesh made his first appearance in the 2023 edition of the competition. But he was a costly failure, conceding runs at a 10 point 52 economy rate while taking 7 wickets in 10 games.
But Ishant emphasized that when evaluating Mukesh’s performances, one should look beyond the numbers, and he gave the justification for this.
“I haven’t seen a man as simple as him; not many people are aware of Mukesh Kumar’s background.
“He needs the appropriate direction on the field so that when the pressure situation arises. He knows what delivery to bowl.”
“If you ask him to bowl a specific delivery, he will only bowl that. Because he bowled the challenging overs in the IPL, he went for runs.”
“Nobody can see the circumstance in which he bowled or the batsman he struck. He gave up 50 runs in 4 overs, which is obvious to everyone.”
“What does Russell have to lose when they’ve lost eight wickets and he’s playing? If you miss even one yorker, he’ll hit you for a six.”
“These things are not observed. He can develop into a very good fast bowler with the right coaching”, according to Ishant.
For the upcoming West Indies tour, Mukesh is included in both the Test and ODI squads.
While Umran and Arshdeep didn’t make the test squad. They will both play in the ODIs in the Caribbean.
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