ICC World Cup 2019 | Ricky Ponting wary of India’s pacers ahead of World Cup encounter

Even though the experts had predicted a largely batsmen-dominated World Cup with flat tracks and small grounds, it is the fast bowlers who have so far made the most headlines with their bouncer strategies being successful in rattling opposition lineups and giving their team the edge. 

Talking to cricket.com.au, Ponting said that the Men in Blue may also opt for the seemingly successful tactic, considering they have the bowlers who have it in their arsenal to execute the plan. Leading the bowlers would be world number one ODI bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who got off to a great start in the tournament by picking up a couple of crucial wickets with the new ball against South Africa. 

"Bumrah we know is a very good new-ball bowler and I'm sure he'll mix it up and bowl some short stuff and some full stuff," Ponting said.

His partner in crime, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, is no less of a threat, though he relies more on his ability to move the ball in the air than to make the batsmen struggle with his pace. Versatile all-rounder Hardik Pandya has an array of variations at his disposal and is more than capable of bowling a disciplined line and length, including pacy bouncers. While the Indian team usually goes with the pair of Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav as spin options, the bouncer strategy may tempt them to go a different direction.

"Bhuvneshwar will probably not worry you too much with his pace or his bouncers. Hardik can maybe rush you a little bit, so maybe they have a decision to make on the overall make-up of their side. Do they maybe go with only the one spinner and use (off-spinning all-rounder) Kedar Jadhav as a second spinner and play another fast bowler?" Ponting added.

The fact that Australia’s top order completely collapsed to a similar strategy used by West Indies may motivate India to go ahead with the plan. One of the batsmen who failed to put on a show was Usman Khawaja, who could only make 13 runs before being caught out after he had received a lethal blow to his jaw in an earlier delivery.

"Usman got hit again, so he's had a few hits in the last few weeks. I haven't spoken to him (to see) if he's rattled, but that's part and parcel of top order batting against brand new balls against guys who are bowling 140 kph an hour," Ponting said on the matter.