Asia Cup 2022 | Jasprit Bumrah’s absence would not hurt India much, opines Dilip Vengsarkar

India’s bowling department has been hailed by many in the last couple of years as they have done incredibly well in all formats. In many of these games, Jasprit Bumrah has spearheaded the pace battery but India will be without his services in the Asia Cup starting on Saturday. A back injury has ruled him out of the tournament. India will take on Pakistan in their opening game and the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, and Avesh Khan would aim to bundle out the opposition. Hardik Pandya also comes up with an extra bowling option and so the team will have four pace bowlers in their line-up. 

Former India cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar believes that the team won’t miss anyone in the bowling department courtesy of a fantastic bench strength. 

“Bumrah is a great bowler and he did extremely well in the past. But I would say that India has got fantastic bench strength. In the IPL they discovered a lot of fast bowlers. There are a lot of options now as far as fast bowling is concerned and good spinners are concerned. I think we won't be missing anyone for that matter,” said Vengsarkar while speaking to cricket enthusiast Anis Sajan on his YouTube channel.

Along with his batting, Hardik has now started bowling his four overs. He has often bowled his quota of overs in the England series and India will rely on him to deliver with the ball. Vengsarkar opined that Hardik adds a lot of balance to the squad with his all-round skills. 

“Batting was always a strong point and India has a very balanced team with Hardik Pandya coming in. He is a great all-rounder and in fantastic form. We hope he does well,” he explained.