Who will fill in the big shoes of Bumrah against England?

Will Kuldeep and Chahal weave spin magic again?

Last year, India decided to replace their finger spin duo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in white ball cricket and brought in Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal who could win matches for them.

Bringing in Yuzvendra and Kuldeep has worked wonders for team India since then. Now, as India brace to take on England for the first ODI match in Old Trafford, they would look forward to living up to the reputation of being one of the best bowling units in recent times.

The spinners have made some big strides against Australia, New Zealand and  South Africa, and they would want to continue weaving magic against the hosts as well.

But, England are a power-packed side and they have seldom struggled against wrist-spin. They have scored an average of around 59 off 10 overs against wrist-spinners, but they have very rarely faced two of them in tandem.

Without Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar (uncertain for the first ODI), the onus would be on Umesh Yadav.

Considering the recent form in the shortest format, India can also try including Siddharth Kaul, who is yet to earn his ODI cap.

A series without the master of death-over stifles:

Why does India rely heavily on Bumrah? The answer is simple!

In the last two years, Bumrah has been one of the biggest finds of Indian cricket.

Initially, his unorthodox action was often credited for his success but as the batsmen around the world got used to playing him, the accuracy with which he bowls his spells and his skill of perfect execution came to the fore.

Statistics:

JASPRIT BUMRAH IN INTERNATIONAL CRICKET

FORMAT         MATCHES      WICKETS    AVERAGE    ECONOMY

Test                        3                        14                    25.21             3.14

ODIs                       37                      64                   22.5              4.64

T20Is                      34                     41                    20.43              6.85

The statistics clearly reveal why Bumrah is India’s go-to man and a series without him would add to some troubles for India.

Trial by fire await India:

Leaving aside Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar, the rest of the India pacers have not been tested in the limited-overs cricket.

Umesh played his last ODI was in September 2017, while Kaul is yet to get an ODI cap.

What might encourage India is that both the players have been regulars in the IPL, where pitches were more or less similar to what they will now encounter in England.

Jasprit Bumrah took to Instagram to share his post promising a comeback

“Donning this jersey is the best feeling in the world. Something that you just can’t explain unless you have been a part of it. @indiancricketteam. Thank you all for your wishes. I’ll be back soon.