India’s best Bumrah-less attack deserves Kuldeep Yadav; no place for half-measures when 20 wickets are non-negotiable

The thinking seems to be that India and Bumrah will be better off with him playing at Lord’s, which begs the question: What is India's best attack without him?

Bumrah is so far ahead of the rest in his thinking, and in the execution of his wondrous skills, that he makes the others, especially his pace colleagues, look pedestrian. In India, Bumrah hasn’t been as much of a threat as overseas (we are only talking minuscule degrees). At various stages, the now retired R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Washington Sundar have individually or collectively pulled their weight, capitalising on even the slightest of assistance from tracks on which they have learnt their craft.

India's Kuldeep Yadav during practice (Action Images via Reuters)

It's away from the subcontinent, where spin often has a minor to negligible influence, that Bumrah’s potency becomes pronounced and irreplaceable. The 30-year-old shades not just his own teammates but also eclipses star performers from the opposition. In Australia over the winter, for instance, he was comfortably the most incisive bowler from both sides combined – and the Aussies had a stellar attack comprising Mitchell Starc, skipper Pat Cummins, Scott Boland, off-spinner Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood.

It was on that tour Down Under that an old injury resurfaced, hanging a giant question mark over Bumrah’s future. A stress reaction in the back prevented him from bowling in the final innings of the series in Sydney in January with Australia 2-1 ahead and kept him out of the Champions Trophy in Dubai, which India clinched on the back of their spin riches and a power-packed batting unit. Bumrah returned to the fray in April during the IPL, seemingly none the worse for wear, but when the team for the Test series in England was announced in May, chief selector Ajit Agarkar confirmed that he wouldn’t play in more than three Tests.

One of the two Tests he will miss could be Edgbaston, from Wednesday. True, Bumrah has had enough rest after his exertions in Leeds, but the thinking within the leadership group seems to be that India and Bumrah will be better off with him playing at Lord’s next week, which then begs the question: What is the best Indian attack without Bumrah equipped to take 20 wickets?

Common sense dictates that India can’t put out a best non-Bumrah attack if Kuldeep Yadav doesn’t figure in it. For all the runs – and India made more than 800 at Headingley – it is wickets that catalyse victory, and India need a victory to square the series. Bumrah’s presence would have helped, clearly, but as Shubman Gill braces for life without him, if only temporarily, he will be seized of the need to play the left-arm wrist-spinner, the most likely to emerge as a match-winner when Bumrah isn’t around.

Mohammed Siraj has only 102 wickets and three five-wicket hauls in 69 innings spread over 37 Tests. He has shown himself to be a good No. 2 but hasn’t provided enough evidence of stepping up and owning the No. 1 status. There is no gamer trier than the Hyderabadi, but a big heart only counts for sentimental value when there are no commensurate rewards. Though he is 29, Prasidh Krishna is in the infancy of his Test career; in his four appearances, he has gone for plenty of runs because of the lengths he lapses into, but he is worth an investment because India have spent a long time waiting from him to divorce himself from his wide range of injuries.

Siraj and Prasidh will need back-up pace support. It’s debatable if Shardul Thakur in his current state or Nitish Kumar Reddy can be touted as the third pacer. That’s why Akash Deep should come into the mix. Deep was desperately unlucky not to start the series in Australia and even more unfortunate to contract back spasms that kept him out of Sydney. He is nippy, gets the ball to go and makes things happen, and is a terrific prospect as Siraj’s new-ball partner.

The best combination

In an ideal Bumrah-less world (we know, we know, how can a Bumrah-less world be ideal?), Siraj, Prasidh, Deep and Kuldeep should form the specialist bowling component with Jadeja as the all-rounder. Despite both being left-arm spinners, Kuldeep and Jadeja bring different skills to the table. As he showed in Leeds too, Jadeja can be relied upon to keep his end tight and run through his overs at breakneck speed, though when there is help from the footmarks, he can be lethal if he doesn’t keep darting the ball in.

England’s two highest successful Test chases in Tests have come in the last three years, both against India – in Birmingham (378) in 2022 and at Headingley (371) a week back. Bumrah was the captain in the first instance, and wicketless in the second innings of the second. Just goes to show how much more difficult it will be for the rest when he is watching from the dugout, but isn’t this also an opportunity for a new hero to emerge, dramatically?