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'Everyone sees he conceded 50 runs in 4 overs. But no one noticed...': Ishant identifies 3 pacers for India's 'future'
Ishant Sharma spoke in detail on the uncapped pacer who had an indifferent maiden outing in the 2023 Indian Premier League.
Over the past few months, one of the major concerns for Team India has been the development of next crop of fast bowlers across all formats of the game. With Ishant Sharma no longer a part of the side, Jasprit Bumrah's persistent injury issues and Umesh Yadav also being dropped from the side earlier this week, only Mohammed Shami has been a regular in the Indian XI among the four – particularly in Tests – over the past year. For the tour of West Indies next month, Shami was also rested and Mohammed Siraj will be spearheading the pace attack.
As the Indian team management faces the daunting task of preparing the new generation of fast bowlers, India's star pacer Ishant Sharma gave his opinion on who he believes could spearhead the side's pace bowling attack in the future. During an appearance on YouTuber Raveer Allahbadia's podcast, Ishant named three fast bowlers who can make their mark in Indian cricket, if guided properly.
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“If you work properly with him, Umran Malik has the potential to do well for the country for a long period of time. (The other would be) Arshdeep Singh," Ishant said.
The pacer further named Mukesh Kumar, the 29-year-old Bengal pacer who was Ishant's teammate at the Delhi Capitals in the recently-concluded season of the Indian Premier League.
The 2023 edition marked Mukesh's maiden appearance in the tournament but he proved expensive, conceding at an economy rate of 10.52, picking 7 wickets in 10 matches. Ishant, however, insisted that one needs to look beyond the numbers while analysing Mukesh's performances, and provided the reason for the same.
"Not many people know his (Mukesh Kumar) story, but I haven't seen a man as simple as him. If you ask him to bowl a particular delivery, he will bowl only that! He needs the right guidance on the field so that when the pressure situation comes, he knows what delivery to bowl. He went for runs in IPL because he bowled the tough overs. No one sees the situation in which he bowled, or which batsman he bowled to. Everyone sees that he conceded 50 runs in 4 overs.
“When Russell is playing and they've lost 8 wickets, what does he have to lose? If you even fail to execute one yorker, he will hit you for a six. No one notices these things. If he's guided properly, he can become a very good fast bowler,” Ishant said.
Mukesh is a part of both, Test and ODI squads for the next month's tour of West Indies. While Umran and Arshdeep didn't find a place in the Test squad, both will be appearing in the ODIs in the Carribbean.
