'Humare paas fast bowlers ki line nahi lagi hui hai... a lot of them are injured': Rohit Sharma's blunt take on fast bowling attack for WI Tests

Injuries to some of the big names in Indian cricket have spelled doom for India's senior men's national team in the last couple of years.

SportsTak

• Wed • 12 Jul 2023

Injuries to some of the big names in Indian cricket have spelled doom for India's senior men's national team in the last couple of years. Genuine match-winners like Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer among others are currently in rehabilitation for their respective injuries. As India embarks on a new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, Rohit Sharma will be without a handful of veteran players, some of whom are out due to injuries while a couple of them have been rested.

As a result, India's fast bowling attack for the West Indies Tests looks inexperienced, at least on paper. India have a pool of five players to choose from. Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur are almost certain to be a part of the playing XI. For the third pacer, it will be a battle between Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini and Mukesh Kumar. All five bowlers combined have played just 32 Tests for India.

Reflecting on India's inexperienced fast bowling line-up, captain Rohit gave a blunt answer and said that a lot of Indian players are currently injured and the team doesn't have an abundance of fat bowlers.

"We’ve seen that the pacers have taken a lot of wickets here. But it is what it is. Players get injured and we have to rotate them unfortunately. Humare paas fast bowlers ki line nahi lagi hui hai (We don’t have an abundance of pacers). In India, there are a lot of bowlers who are injured. The ones we have, we need to manage them. Which is why our experienced bowlers couldn’t come on this tour,” Rohit told reporters on the eve of 1st Test.

Rohit Sharma-led India is gearing up for a full-throttle bilateral series against the West Indies. The Indian side arrived in the Caribbean a few days ago and trained rigorously for the first Test of the tour, scheduled to begin on July 12 (Wednesday). India and West Indies will lock horns in the first of two Test series in Dominica. It's now time for Rohit Sharma & Co. to put their practice to work and secure a positive result.