T20 World Cup 2022: India will miss an impact bowler like Jasprit Bumrah but Hardik Pandya could be game changer – Aaqib Javed

Former Pakistan fast bowler feels India will dearly miss the services of an impact bowler like Jasprit Bumrah in the T20 World Cup. Bumrah has been India’s best bowler in all three formats of the game and his injury is a massive blow to the Rohit Sharma-led team.

In Bumrah’s absence, India also doesn’t have enough pace in their bowling line-up. However, Javed feels Hardik Pandya could be a game-changer in Australia.

Pandya can bowl around the 140 kmph mark and can bend his back. Furthermore, Pandya likes to bowl in the short-length area and he can get help from bouncy Australian pitches. Pandya has done a decent job with the ball and he will look to continue the same in the T20I showpiece.

“The condition India is in at the moment, their form isn’t good. Their batting is struggling and without Jasprit Bumrah, they don’t have an impact bowler like Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf. An ‘impact’ bowler creates a lot of pressure on the opponents and that makes a difference. They only have medium-pace bowlers right now but they do have Hardik Pandya who can change the game at any point of time,” Aaqib Javed said as quoted by NDTV.

India’s death bowling has been their Achilles Heel in recent times and they will need to pull up to the socks. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been expensive in the recent past and he will look to turn the tables. Furthermore, Harshal Patel hasn’t made a promising return after recovering from his side strain injury.

Both of these pacers are known to bowl around 130 kmph and they might not get a lot of help in Australian conditions.

India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan at the iconic MCG on 23rd October.