Last Updated on 3 years by Charbel Coorey

Who should be India’s third seamer in the 2022 T20 World Cup? | A look at who should be India’s third seamer for the 2022 T20 World Cup

The Indian team is entering the final and its most important preparatory phase prior to the T20 World Cup. The Asia Cup coupled with bilateral T20I series’ vs Australia and South Africa provides the team management an ideal opportunity to zero down upon their final squad for the mega-tournament.

The pace battery will don an instrumental role in Australian conditions. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has shown glimpses of regaining his old mojo in recent times. His performances in the recent tours of England and Caribbean have sparked hopes that he will spearhead the attack with Jasprit Bumrah in the World T20.

Barring any unfortunate injuries, this duo coupled with Hardik Pandya are more than likely to carry out the pace-bowling responsibilities. However, there will be space for another specialist fast-bowler in the XI with Pandya batting higher up and Ravindra Jadeja slotting in at number seven.

Since the previous World Cup, India has played 23 T20Is. Primarily, three bowlers have been experimented with for the third pacer’s position, namely: Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh. The trio have played 17, 13 and six T20Is respectively in the time being and are competing against each other to nail down a World Cup spot for themselves.

What will India be looking for in the third pacer?

It is vital to understand the think-tank’s expectations from the third pacer before finalising one of the three players for the same. Lately, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been solely handed the new-ball responsibilities. There were occasions in the recent series vs West Indies when he didn’t even return for a second spell. It is not as if his death-over bowling credentials are on the wane. He recorded an economy rate of 8.6 in the death overs in IPL 2022.

The Meerut-born pacer was relying a bit overtly on his repertoire of slower deliveries and knuckle balls and that acted to his detriment at times. But Bhuvneshwar has been mixing them well with the traditional yorkers in the last few months and that has perhaps uplifted his skillsets and performances in that phase of the game. So, it is not as if that he would be completely overlooked in the death overs by the Indian team.

Should Harshal Patel get the first chance?

But, Rohit Sharma at times tends to give him an extended three-over spell in the powerplay itself and that leaves the space open for another pacer to partner Jasprit Bumrah towards the backend of the innings. That is perhaps the key reason behind the management’s insistence on drafting Harshal Patel into the squad straightaway after the previous T20 World Cup.

With 52 wickets in the last two Indian Premier League (IPL) seasons, Harshal has been a revelation with the old ball. However, there are concerns whether his skillsets would bear the same results in the slightly pacier tracks Down Under, especially as Harshal didn’t return with impressive figures in the recent tour to the United Kingdom (UK). The pacer took five wickets at an economy rate of 9.8 across four games amidst concerns that his skills might be found wanting in overseas conditions.  

Avesh Khan?

That resulted in Avesh Khan being brought into the setup. Avesh acts as an enforcer in the middle-overs and he boasts of an economy rate of 7.25 in that phase of the innings (7-16) in the IPL. Yet, he has a tendency to leak one run too many occasionally in the death. He has conceded runs at an economy of 9.69 in backend of the innings in the IPL. Moreover, he has taken merely 16 death-over wickets in 31 such innings. Teams are likely to double down their attack on the other pacer in Bumrah’s presence and Avesh might arguably be taken to cleaners under those circumstances.

Why Arshdeep Singh looks a terrific option

Enter, Arshdeep Singh.

For long, the Indian side has been in the want for a quality left-arm pacer. A need has been felt to introduce a newer element and angle to the bowling unit. Arshdeep ticks those boxes and he steals the show with his incredible consistent outings towards the backend of the innings.

So far, he has maintained an impressive economy rate of 6.34 in six T20I appearances. But a larger sample size across the IPL shows that he has conceded runs at only 8.78 in the death overs throughout his IPL career.

His skillsets have only enhanced in that phase in recent years, with Arshdeep taking over and excelling in the death-bowling duties for the Punjab Kings last season. His tendency to pin down one yorker after another and use his angles to compress the batsmen of room to play their shots has been widely appreciated.

There have been criticisms over his inability to take consistent wickets but nine dismissals in six T20Is with the aforementioned economy is a good enough record for a player with as little international exposure as him.

Moreover, one shouldn’t overlook his credentials with the new ball either. Arshdeep has the ability to hit the right, hard lengths regularly and that can complement Bhuvneshwar’s swing-bowling very well in the powerplay. This can allow Rohit to push Bumrah’s overs towards the middle and the end phase, thus giving the team management multiple options to work around their bowling repertoire.

Hardik Pandya allows for quality bowling in the middle overs

Further, Hardik’s re-emergence with the ball has further added to India’s bowling strength in the middle-overs. He has been nearly clocking the 140 kmph mark and is likely to optimise the prevalent conditions in Australia to his benefit. The all-rounder has picked eight wickets in 11 T20I innings since IPL 2022 and the range of deliveries that he has to offer has only increased since his comeback this year.

That perhaps ensures that India might not necessarily need Avesh as an enforcer in the middle-overs. In the other two parameters, i.e., at the start and in the death, Arshdeep seems to have more to offer as compared to his other two compatriots. This is definitely with respect to his very little experience in the international stage.

However, Harshal’s current injury might leave him with little time to outrun Arshdeep to claim a spot in the World Cup squad. The last time India lifted a World Cup, it was a left-arm pacer in Zaheer Khan who led the bowling attack with aplomb right throughout the tournament. Though Arshdeep is too young to assume the leadership role per se, can he be the shining star as India looks to potentially break their ICC tournament drought?

Only time will tell.