Ishant Sharma picks Mohammed Siraj ahead of Jasprit Bumrah as future of Indian pace bowling

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Veteran India pacer Ishant Sharma picked Mohammed Siraj ahead of Jasprit Bumrah when asked about the future starts of Indian fast bowling. Ishant, the only fast bowler from India to play over 100 Test matches, raised concerns over Bumrah fitness.

Jasprit Bumrah, the Indian pace spearhead, recently made his comeback from injury after 326 days. The 29-year-old pacer last played an ODI match for India in July 2022 and eyes will be on him in the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 which starts from August 30.

Due to his injury, Bumrah missed out on last year's Asia Cup, T20 World Cup 2022, Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023, IPL 2023 and the World Test Championship (WTC) final 2023.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Siraj has emerged as a Team India regular across formats. Siraj, who is ranked fifth in the ICC ODI rankings for bowlers, is only behind Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc amongst pacers in the list. He is the top-ranked Indian bowler in the ODI format at the moment.

"Siraj obviously. Should we add Bumrah or not, depends on fitness. I think Bumrah will have to play smart. There is no Test series until the World Cup, so he has to just play white-ball cricket," Ishant Sharma said in Part 4 of his interview on Home of Heroes on JioCinema.

Further, Ishant Sharma also picked Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, and Umran Malik as the future pace bowling starts for India after Siraj.

"After that, Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep, and Umran Malik," the Delhi pacer said.

Ishant Sharma also talked about India's chances of winning the World Cup 2023. He said the home advantage would benefit India if they play to their strength like they did in the 2011 home World Cup which India won under the leadership of MS Dhoni.

"
I think we have a great chance. We have the home advantage. You’ll face tough teams but even in 2011, you played against Australia, and you played to your strengths. If they do that, they have a big chance of winning the World Cup," Ishant Sharma said.