"Will Probably Struggle": Wasim Akram On Veteran India Bowler's Chances In T20 World Cup

India's road to the T20 World Cup has been marred by injuries. It started with spin all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja being ruled out due to injury and was followed by star pacer Jasprit Bumrah missing the marquee event, for the same reason. Even Deepak Chahar, who was on the standby list, is reportedly out of the T20 World Cup with an injury. In their absence, other pacers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh will have to take extra responsibility. However, former Pakistan cricket team pacer Wasim Akram feels that Bhuvneshwar Kumar will struggle in the T20 World Cup.

"India have Bhuvneshwar Kumar, he is good with the new ball, but with his pace, if the ball is not swinging, he will probably struggle there. But he is a very good bowler no doubt, swings both ways, has the yorker. But you need pace in Australia," Akram was quoted as saying by Khaleej Times.

"You see that guy from Kashmir, Umran Malik, he is quick. India need to stick with him because he has got pace. If I was in the Indian think-tank, I would have picked him in the squad all the time," he added.

Akram also lauded Suryakumar Yadav's rise. "He is a very dangerous player, he is a 360 player. I saw him first time when he joined the Kolkata Knight Riders. I spent two years with him. I was amazed that the KKR let him go. He was young, he was 19 or 20 then, imagine, he would have been the (KKR) captain by now ," Wasim said.

"I think he is the future as far as the T20 format is concerned. He is a treat to watch, one of my favourite players in the format no doubt."

India squad for ICC T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh. Standby players - Mohd. Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar.

Topics mentioned in this article

Bhuvneshwar Kumar Umran Malik Wasim Akram India Cricket Team ICC T20 World Cup 2022 Cricket