India face major bowling challenges after 10-wicket defeat by Pakistan

As a shell-shocked India pick through all that went wrong in the 10-wicket defeat to Pakistan on Sunday night, the main focus would be on the batting capitulation in the powerplay. Shaheen Shah Afridi’s spell that fell Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul also raised the question if India should have picked left-hander Ishan Kishan to thrust him into the top order and try to upset the fast bowler’s rhythm after the early setbacks.The inability to take an early wicket, despite putting up a fighting 151 in Dubai, may worry Virat Kohli and the team management more as they look for ways to bounce back. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami didn’t provide an early breakthrough, which meant the bowlers were under pressure as a pitch firmed up by dew played even more into the hands of Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.First the numbers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned 3-0-25-0 with seven dot balls, conceding a four and six. Mohammed Shami, who shared the new ball, went for 3.5-0-43-0 with five dot balls. He was hit for six fours and a six.Bhuvneshwar has paired up on-and-off with Jasprit Bumrah for India. He’s played intermittently due to a fragile body breaking down, which has not allowed him to bowl with the rhythm that is so crucial for his medium-pace swing bowling.When handing Kumar the first over, Kohli would have hoped he would produce something like what Afridi did, swing the ball and draw the error. Rizwan though deposited his second ball, a 131-kph half tracker, over squareleg for six.A cardinal bowling sin is to feed a batter on his legs. Indian bowlers did that a lot to Rizwan, who cashed in. He also created his own arc in the leg side, in front of square and deep mid-wicket. While Azam was all class, scoring all around the park, 70% of Rizwan’s 79* came in that region. He kept swatting away everyone, Kumar, Shami, Bumrah in his second spell, and even the spinners.India have six days before the face New Zealand to reassess their approach and execution, particularly the bowling department. All three pacers were off-colour. Shami showed in the last IPL he is an improved T20 bowler, his weakest format. Kumar has been outstanding at the start and finish for India and Sunrisers Hyderabad. But his bowling has lacked bite for some time. Kumar has been an ace at the death with his ability to nail wide yorkers, like he did with AB de Villiers recently.India’s problems though stem from a lack of balance in the playing eleven. Picking Hardik Pandya despite his inability to bowl means they have missed an effective sixth bowler. Pandya has also undergone scans for a hit on the shoulder.They would want to think if they need to create a spot for Ravichandran Ashwin, although once an attacking bowler, he now bowls a more defensive mix. This IPL, he took seven wickets of Delhi Capitals at an economy rate of 7.41 and a strike rate of 38.28. The comparative numbers in 2020 and 2019 IPL are 13 wickets (S/R 23.53) and 15 wickets (S/R 22.00).Varun Chakaravarthy has been the wicket-taking option with his variety (2021 IPL—18 wickets at an economy of 6.58; S/R 22.66), but he returned 4-0-33-0 with an economy of 8.25 on Sunday. If India can’t pick a third spinner for conditions, it could then come down to Bumrah, who invariably delivers. But they may need a fresh outlook going forward.IPL has become a marker for T20 experiments. Kolkata Knight Riders preserved the injury-prone Andre Russell just for his final two-over burst at the death. KKR could do that because they have six-seven bowling options. India don’t. Kohli with coach Ravi Shastri and mentor MS Dhoni will need to find a way out. Shardul Thakur is an option though he is essentially a middle-overs bowler.India can’t really bank on Ravindra Jadeja to bowl his full quota of four overs. Dhoni often kept Jadeja off the attack for Chennai Super Kings when conditions didn’t suit him. Once the dew took effect, Jadeja’s bowling wasn’t threatening. “The more dew came in towards the second half of the Pakistan innings, 10 overs onwards,” Kohli said. “We could not even get dot balls in because the pitch was providing a big pace for the batsman to work with. The slower balls were not holding up as much.”Dew is expected to play a role this time of the desert season. With a spin-heavy squad, India would have to account for that despite the variety available to pick from. India will have to quickly identify their wicket-taking options. The 10-wicket loss is a major warning sign.