IND v AUS 2020: Can India turn to part-time bowling options in Kohli, Iyer and Dhawan?

India conceded 374 runs in the first innings of the 1st ODI against Australia, so it wasn't a surprise when they fell short by 66 runs in meek fashion.

In the post-match presentation, Indian skipper Virat Kohli was jokingly asked whether he'll consider rolling his arm over in the games to come. The Men in Blue sorely missed a second all-rounder in the 1st ODI, with Hardik Pandya playing as a specialist batsman at No. 6 leading to Kohli having only 5 bowling options at his disposal.

"Maybe I'll bowl a few when Finchy is batting because I know he doesn't want to get out to me," Kohli quipped in response.

While this interaction may have been perceived as nothing but light-hearted banter, there's actually a case that can be made for India to turn to their part-timers even if the bowlers haven't bowled in a while in international cricket.

The top 4 - Mayank Agarwal, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer - are all unlikely to be dropped, and with Pandya not confident of returning to bowling in the near future, India have to weasel overs out of one or two of these batsmen. Kohli elucidated on the same, saying:

"Well, we'll have to find out ways of getting a few overs from the few part-timers that we have in the side. Unfortunately, someone like Hardik (Pandya) is not ready to bowl at the moment and we'll have to accept that. We'll have to work around it and we don't really have any all-round options as such right now."

In this article, we analyse whether it is realistically possible for India to turn to one of these players.

---

Virat Kohli last bowled in an ODI in 2017

Kohli hasn't bowled regularly since becoming captain

Virat Kohli last bowled in an ODI in 2017 against Sri Lanka, and he returned figures of 0/12 in his 2 overs. He bowled another spell in the same year (3 overs for 17 runs) against the same opposition.

In the 106.5 overs that Kohli has bowled in ODI cricket, he has picked up 4 wickets at an economy rate of 6.22. These returns are far from poor when you consider the fact that he's been nothing more than a glorified part-timer, and former Indian captain MS Dhoni wouldn't have tossed him the ball on so many occasions if he didn't believe in Kohli's abilities.

Batsmen are bound to take chances against the Indian skipper if he comes on to bowl, and there's a high chance of him getting wickets even if he concedes a fair amount of runs. If it goes wrong, however, it could go horribly wrong - there's a significant amount of risk involved.

But given that Kohli's the captain of the side and has bowled in international cricket before, he could well take it upon himself to churn out a couple of overs and make up for a bowler having a bad day.

---

Shreyas Iyer, Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan

Dhawan has bowled in Test matches for India

Among Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer, it seems like all three have no chance of bowling on a regular basis at the international level.

Dhawan has bowled 9 overs of off-spin in Test cricket for India, mostly to get through overs just before intervals such as Lunch and Tea. He hasn't come close to picking up a wicket, and hasn't bowled with a white ball for India. In first-class cricket, he has 3 wickets to his name, and another 9 in List A.

Dhawan has come under scrutiny from the International Cricket Council for a suspect action in the few overs that he has bowled. It's unlikely that he has made any improvements to his action in the nets, given that he has been fighting to keep his place in the playing XI.

Iyer is a leg-spinner who has scalped 4 first-class wickets and 5 List A wickets, and has decent economy rates to show for in these games. But if he works on his bowling a bit in the nets, we could see him chip in with a few overs in the way that Rohit Sharma and Virender Sehwag have done for India in the past.

It's tough being a part-time leg-spinner, as control often deserts them with disastrous consequences bound to occur. Iyer is just 26 years old, and given that India are grooming him to be a solid middle-order batsman and maybe even captain, it might be advisable for them to make him bowl a bit in the nets.

Mayank Agarwal, on the other hand, has taken only 3 first-class wickets and has nothing else to show for. It's next to impossible to see him thrown into the deep end against Australia.

The only serious option that India can turn to is Virat Kohli. Dhawan and Iyer might have outside chances of bowling in games that go even worse than the 1st ODI against Australia, but can't be relied on at all - at the moment, at least.