With Bumrah And Harshal Back In Action, India’s Build Up Starts For Twenty20 World Cup

The men in blue team’s build up to the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in October-November would have truly begun with the first skirmish against the Aaron Finch-led Australian team at Mohali on Tuesday (Sep 20). The two teams will lock horns three times in all, and this Twenty20 series will be followed by a three match Twenty20 series against South Africa before the Rohit Sharma led team fly to the Southern Hemisphere for the global tournament. The focus will be on Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel, both of whom were absent in India’s pace pack for the recent Asia Cup Twenty 20 in Dubai because of injuries. Bumrah and Patel will feature in both the home series, but the team management will have the option of resting them for a match or two. The selection committee has decided to rest Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (for the series against South Africa) and left arm seamer Arshdeep Singh for the series against Australia. These five will form the fulcrum of India’s fast bowling attack for campaigns in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide. The slow bowlers in the World Cup squad are off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and left arm spinner Axar Patel. The focus though will be on Bumrah and Harshal; their fitness is of paramount importance.