Team India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey: “Umesh Yadav becomes a spearhead for us now”  

Team India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey has named Umesh Yadav as the pace spearhead for the upcoming Tests against Bangladesh in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. He also praised Mohammed Siraj for making his opportunities at the Test level count.

India will be without the services of Bumrah and Shami, who are on the injury list for the two-match Test series against Bangladesh. Apart from Umesh and Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Jaydev Unadkat, and Shardul Thakur are India’s other pace options for the Test series.

The first Test will be played in Chattogram, starting Wednesday, December 14. Speaking on the eve of the game, Mhambrey opened up on India’s pace-bowling options in the absence of their frontline fast bowlers. He said:

“Umesh Yadav becomes a spearhead for us now. He has a lot of experience with him going into the Test match. Also happy with the way Siraj has delivered in Test cricket. He has won Test matches for us.

"A lot is expected from Umesh, but it is also a great opportunity for Siraj to fill in. Every Test match from hereon is extremely important for us (keeping WTC final in mind)."

While admitting that India will miss the services of Bumrah and Shami, Mhambrey asserted that the other fast bowlers have been playing consistently, which is a plus going into the Test match. He elaborated:

“One good thing is a lot of these guys are playing. If you look at the bowlers, Siraj has played a lot of cricket. Umesh has also played a lot of cricket. Saini has played a couple of games in the A series that has recently concluded. Everyone is in touch.”

While Siraj was part of the New Zealand tour as well as the Bangladesh ODIs, Umesh and Saini recently turned out for India A in the unofficial Tests against Bangladesh A.

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“We’ll look at the surface” - Mhambrey on India’s combination for the 1st Test

One of the big decisions India will have to make heading into the first Test is whether to go in with three seamers or a third spinner.

Asked about the same, Mhambrey refused to divulge any details on the team combination. He replied:

“We’ll look at the surface. We saw the wicket yesterday. We played one game here, it was a flat wicket. From a bowling perspective, we know we have to work very hard to take 20 wickets. Depending on the surface, we will see whether to go with three seamers or three spinners. The trend here over the last two to three years has seen high-scoring games.”

With Rohit Sharma being ruled out due to a thumb injury, KL Rahul will lead India in the first Test of the two-match series.