Cricket: Does India need to look for batters who can bowl?

Batters who could bowl some overs have become a rarity in Indian cricket these days. Part-time bowlers who were top-order batters were a common feature of Indian sides in the past. With two white ball tournaments (ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2023 and T20 World Cup in 2024) approaching, the question that arises is that does the Indian needs to look at batters who can bowl some overs. In this article, we will take a look at whether there is a need for India to look at batters who can bowl some overs.

How do batters who can bowl help India?

In the current Indian limited-overs set-up, there are hardly any top-order batters who could bowl some overs. In the last ODI, India played in March 2023 they played 5 batters who can not bowl any overs. Openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill followed by Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav play purely as batters. They played with three all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel. They played with three frontline bowlers Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami.

Playing with three all-rounders to make up the quota of the 4th and 5th bowlers harms the bowling department. The three above-mentioned all-rounders have also failed to perform with consistency.

Here is a look at their performances in ODIs since 2021

Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja is one of the most experienced players in the Indian line-up. Since 2021, the spin-bowling all-rounder has scored just 115 runs in five innings. The left-handed batter has struggled with the bat in recent times as his strike rate since 2021 in ODIs is just 57.50 while his average is 38.33. With the ball in hand, he has taken only three wickets in 28 overs. His economy has been positive he has been conceding only 4.21 Runs Per Over (RPO). With his batting stats he can’t play in the team as the 5th or 6th batter and with his bowling performances, he can’t be India’s 4th bowler.

Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya has played 17 matches in this period. In 14 innings he has batted, he has scored 417 runs. His batting average is below 30 (29.78) and his strike rate too has been below par (103.47). Pandya is looked at as a finisher in the Indian set-up but his strike rate needs to go up if he has to fulfil that role. The fast-bowling all-rounder has taken 17 wickets in 15 innings. The volume of overs (84) he has bowled since 2021 has been a big positive for India. His economy is 5.85 RPO while his bowling average is 28.94. He can be looked at as someone who could be a 5th or 6th bowler but his batting needs significant improvement, especially his strike rate.

Axar Patel

In comparison to Jadeja and Pandya, Axar Patel is relatively new to the Indian setup. He has played 13 matches since 2021 and has scored 231 runs so far. His batting has helped India in recent times. His batting average of 33 and his strike rate of 112.68 is a huge boost for India. He has also taken 13 wickets in this period but the biggest positive has to be his economy. He is conceding just 4.88 RPO. He can be looked at as someone who can play as the 5th batter and can bowl 10 overs as well considering the Indian conditions that will favour his bowling in the ODI World Cup.

Tendulkar, Sehwag and Ganguly

In the past, there were players like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly who could bat in the top order and bowl some handy overs as well. Tendulkar took 154 wickets in 270 innings at an economy of just 5.1 RPO. Sehwag took 96 wickets in 146 innings at an economy of 5.26. Ganguly took 100 wickets in 171 innings at an economy of 5.06.

The potential players in the Indian setup?

Shreyas Iyer is the only possible player who could fulfil the role of a top-order batter bowling some overs. Iyer with the bat has been arguably one of the best performers for India. Since 2021 the right-handed batter has scored the 4th most runs (824). Only Gill (1262), Shikhar Dhawan (985) and Kohli (858) have scored more runs than Iyer in this period. His consistency with the bat means that he becomes an automatic pick when fit. His batting average during this period is 48.47. He has tried his hand at bowling as well. He has bowled 4.1 overs since 2021 at an economy of just 5.76 RPO.

Possible Team Combination

When Shreyas Iyer returns to the ODI set-up he can replace Suryakumar Yadav from the playing XI of the last ODI. If Iyer can consistently bowl 3-4 overs at an economy of less than 6 RPO then the trio of all-rounders Jadeja, Patel and Pandya can all be fitted into the playing given Jadeja and Pandya improves their batting. If Iyer fails to bowl 3-4 overs then only two from the all-rounder trio can play in the XI with the third one getting replaced by someone like Deepak Chahar or Shardul Thakur.