GUWAHATI: India have primarily been a spin-heavy side, whether it is ODIs or T20Is. While the team will be content with the pace-bowling options in one-dayers, the same cannot be said in the other format.
In the past 12-15 months, there have also been scenarios when the team adopted the strategy of four spinners and a pacer in the shortest format. Since Jhulan Goswami’s T20I retirement last August, the search for a dependable speedster has only picked up pace.
The team is abundant of spinners with Poonam Yadav, Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Anuja Patil and Ekta Bisht in its ranks. Since the start of 2018, Poonam, Deepti and Radha have done most of the damage accounting for 83 wickets altogether. That, whether India is relying too much on spin, is a different question, but the lack of depth in fast bowling is something that the team would want to look at, considering the next year’s T20 World Cup is in Australia. “We have really good pace bowlers coming in.
Of course, you won’t get someone like Jhulan because she has so much of experience,” said skipper Smriti Mandhana on the eve of the second T20I against England in Guwahati. “It is wrong to expect a pace bowler coming in and deliver the same kind of what Jhulu di does because she is one of a kind.”
In the past 15 months, India have had a couple of pacers but none was as threatening as Jhulan. Mansi Joshi played four matches after making her comeback from injury last year. She picked up two wickets at an economy of 7.53 and was dropped for the England series. Another right-arm medium pacer Arundhati Reddy, who made her debut last September, has featured in 13 games and has scalped 10, but she has been expensive, leaking 8.29 runs per over. Replacing Mansi in the squad is the uncapped left-arm pace bowler Komal Zanzad. The Vidarbha bowler had an impressive outing for Board President’s XI against England in the warm-up fixture in Mumbai when she took three wickets for 14.
“I played the Board President XI’s match. But seeing the pace bowlers (during the warm-up game), I think they did a brilliant job. We got almost four or five wickets in first 10 overs. And those were all picked by pacers. So I don’t think there is a lack of depth. Only that we have to give them enough chances to be a match winner for India,” added Mandhana.
With a new crop of players coming in, who are yet to be completely ready in the shortest format, the onus will be on the experienced Shikha Pandey to spearhead the pace department. After Jhulan’s retirement, Shikha had not played a single T20I before the first match against England on Monday. But carrying the momentum that she gained during the ODI leg — she even picked her career-best 4/18 in the third match — the 29-year-old bowled with new-found energy, leaking only 18 runs. At least for the immediate future, Shikha could play a vital role.