Ashish Nehra Predicts India's 5-Man Bowling Attack For The WTC Final vs New Zealand

Former India pacer Ashish Nehra has named a 5-man bowling attack that he feels Virat Kohli should field in the inaugural ICC WTC final against New Zealand, which commences on June 18 in Southampton.

Ashish Nehra has gone with three pacers, namely Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, and Mohammed Shami, alongside the two spinners Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin.

While Bumrah is a lock in the eleven, the position of both the other experienced pacers, Ishant and Shami, is not confirm due to the rise of Mohammed Siraj in the last couple of Test series. However, Ashish Nehra wants to go with the experience of Ishant and Shami, and he reckons Siraj should only come into the eleven as the fourth pacer if the pitch is green.

“Of course, both India and New Zealand have very good fast bowlers. But if you look at our bowlers, (Jasprit) Bumrah and (Mohammed) Shami, they can bowl well even on flatter decks. Not just Bumrah and Shami but even Ishant (Sharma) is there. And looking at what he has achieved having played 100 Test matches, his presence is another strong point for India,” Ashish Nehra told The Telegraph.

“If you come across a green top, then you certainly can think of including an extra pacer, which I feel should be Mohammed Siraj given how well he has been bowling. But otherwise, I think the bowling attack should be Ishant, Bumrah and Shami as the three fast bowlers, with (Ravichandran) Ashwin and (Ravindra) Jadeja as the spinners,” he added.

Ashwin and Jadeja can contribute with the bat too: Ashish Nehra

Although India has previously preferred to play either Jadeja or Ashwin in Tests outside Asia, both the all-rounders could be seen together in the WTC final, and in the 5-Test England series following that.

Ashish Nehra cites the improvement in their batting as the reason for that, as both the spinners have become almost undroppable from the eleven, irrespective of the conditions.

“Of course, there’s still almost a month left for the final and how each of the quicks fare in practice sessions as well as their fitness levels would also be taken into account before the XI is announced.

“But the advantage of playing with this attack is that Ashwin and Jadeja can contribute with the bat too, and runs scored by the lower order turn out to be priceless. If Jadeja and Ashwin are in the XI, the team will have all bases covered in terms of bowling,” the 2011 World Cup winner explained.

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