ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Probable bowling attack for India against Pakistan

After convincingly registering consecutive victories in the two warm-up games leading up to the Champions Trophy, an upbeat Indian team look set to rekindle one of their biggest rivalries when they lock horns with arch-rivals Pakistan at Edgbaston, Birmingham for the opening game of both the teams.

The Indian team put out commanding performances in both the warm-up games and are sure to have selection headaches while Pakistan will hope to get the right combination after a win against Bangladesh in their first warm-up game was followed up by a washed out encounter against Australia.

Lead up to the group stage matches

Shami, Bhuvneshwar shine against NZ

Against a full-strength New Zealand squad, the Indian bowlers did well to complement each other and bundled the Black Caps for 189 off 38.4 overs. Mohammad Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked three wickets apiece while Ravindra Jadeja utilised the conditions to full effect and picked a couple of wickets from his four overs.

Ravi Ashwin was summoned to bowl late into the match and picked up one wicket, giving away 32 runs from his six. Umesh Yadav was given a bowl after sitting out for half the inning and picked up the wicket of Milne from his four overs.

Given a target of 190, India romped home with seven wickets in hand at the back of a half-century from skipper Kohli and a 40 from Dhawan.

Bowlers make merry against Bangladesh

After setting Bangladesh a stiff target of 325 at the back of half-centuries from Dhawan, Karthik and Pandya, the Indian bowlers made the Bangla batsmen look foolish, skittling them out for 84 from only 23.5 overs. Bhuvneshwar and Umesh shared the new ball and ended with three wickets apiece while every other bowler ended with one wicket each.

Hardik Pandya and Ashwin were given just two and one over respectively. While Bumrah was slightly expensive early on, he did well to contain the batsmen in the latter stages and picked one wicket off his five overs, giving away just 32 runs. Shami looked solid with the ball, picking up a wicket giving away just 17 runs from his six overs.

A happy Virat Kohli seemed to hint on playing three pacers and give Pandya a chance in the opening encounter against Pakistan. If this goes by, then we could see four pacers make their way into the eleven and a spinner in the form of Ravindra Jadeja. Here, we try to have a look into the best bowling attack which could feature against Pakistan.

The pace trio: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah

Bumrah will be vital for India in the death overs while Umesh will be banked upon to stifle the batsmen early on in the innings.

Without a shadow of a doubt, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is India’s best exponent of swing and his experience combined with skill will aid India in English conditions. In addition to his skill, Bhuvneshwar is coming out of the IPL as the season’s highest wicket-taker for the second time running and will also be oozing with confidence after picking up three wickets in both the warm-up games. He is sure to open with the new ball.

Umesh Yadav is fast and accurate and has been India’s premier new ball bowler for the whole of the home season apart from being the premier pacer for the Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2017. Yadav shared the new ball with Bhuvneshwar against Bangladesh in the second warm-up tie and caused severe discomfort for the batsmen with his pace and the bounce he extracted off the pitch.

Meanwhile, Bumrah's transformation to one of the world’s best death overs bowlers has been a spectacle to watch. Bumrah has learnt a lot under Lasith Malinga and his yorkers coupled with cunning slower balls could do well for India in the slog overs. The 'death-overs specialist’ has been excellent for India in the LOIs and he could well turn out to be the go-to man for Kohli in pressure situations.

Jadeja primary spinner; Hardik Pandya to play the role of a batting all-rounder

Ravindra Jadeja had a fabulous time in the last Champions Trophy

Given that Pakistan plays spin well, it would not be a bad decision to leave Ravi Ashwin out of the playing XI for the first game. Ravindra Jadeja performed well in the warm-up games and his all-round skill makes him an automatic choice for the XI. If we go by stats, Jadeja ripped apart teams last Champions Trophy, picking up 12 wickets from five matches and India will look to him for constant breakthroughs against the arch-rivals.

The biggest question that would play on the minds of Kohli and the management would be, Ashwin or Hardik? Considering that Ashwin has had a long lay-off and that Hardik has been impressive with both bat and ball off-late, Pandya might be given a nod ahead of the seasoned off-spinner.

However, for that to happen, the Pandya has to really up his game when it comes to his bowling.

Other options: Jadhav and Yuvraj

When India last played the Champions Trophy in 2013, Dhoni had Raina to fall upon as the backup option, in case one of the main bowlers had an off-time. This time around, if both Yuvraj and Kedar Jadhav make their way into the starting XI, Kohli can throw the ball to Jadhav, who has proven to be a wily bowler under the able wings of Dhoni.

Yuvraj Singh has not had a bowl in a long time but given his experience in the number of games he has played, the southpaw can be brought in as the fifth or sixth bowler against Pakistan, if need be.

In a nutshell, Kohli will have a whole lot of good selection problems to manage when the big day arrives. While three pacers are bustling for two spots with Bhuvneshwar Kumar sure to play the opening game, it will be a battle for the second all-rounder's spot between Hardik Pandya and Ravi Ashwin and we might just see Pandya getting the nod.