Page 44 - The Indian EYE 080125

STUMP VISION AUGUST 01, 2025 | The Indian Eye 44

India’s Bowling Blues:

Injuries, Depth and a Test

of Grit in England

With seamers dropping like flies and England pressing hard, India’s injury-riddled Test squad

is leaning on untested pace depth — and Rishabh Pant’s courage — to keep the series alive.

OUR BUREAU

Old Trafford, Manchester
s India enters the business end
of their high-voltage Test se-
Aries against England trailing
1-2, a fresh wave of injuries has left
the team scrambling to hold its pace
attack together. What was billed as a
clash between evenly matched crick-
eting giants has slowly turned into a
test of medical resilience and squad
depth — especially among India’s
fragile crop of seam bowlers.

With multiple frontline pacers
down, some barely standing,

and others untested at the in-
ternational level, questions
loom: Does India have the bench
strength to sustain a full five-

Test series abroad? And amid
this physical crisis, can mental
resilience — exemplified by the
likes of Rishabh Pant — be In- Anshul Kamboj poses for a picture on receiving his Test Debut Cap during the 4th test between India and England, at Old Trafford stadium in

dia’s saving grace? Manchester on Wednesday. (@BCCI X/ANI Photo)

The litany of injuries reads like threatening India’s pace ecosystem. “It has become a serious issue jury curse. The 31-year-old pacer is
a casualty report. Akash Deep, who Adding to the crisis, Arshdeep where Indian seam bowlers just ar- playing only three of the five Tests as
stunned England with a 10-wicket Singh — yet to debut in Tests — in- en’t staying fit long enough,” former part of a carefully designed workload
haul at Edgbaston, is now out with jured his hand during a training ses- cricketer and commentator Sanjay management plan following a stress
a groin niggle. Before this, he had sion in Beckenham, dashing hopes Manjrekar said on ESPNcricin- reaction in his back earlier this year.
already spent three months nursing of a dream debut. All-rounder Nitish fo. “You see exciting young talent This cautious approach is un-
a back injury suffered during India’s Kumar Reddy, too, is unavailable emerge in the IPL, and after three derstandable — Bumrah is not just a
tour of Australia. Even after return- with a knee injury. The pace bowling matches, they’re gone. Somebody bowler but a strategy. However, it has
ing to competitive cricket through group looks dangerously thin, and needs to get to the bottom of it.” also exposed how overly reliant India
the IPL, Akash’s workload has raised the selectors have flown in Anshul Even Jasprit Bumrah, India’s has become on one man to lead the
eyebrows among experts who be- Kamboj, an uncapped but promising most potent weapon with the red attack. Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh
lieve that poor injury management is seamer, to fill the void. ball, has not been immune to the in- Continued on next page... >>

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