Who should be India's second pacer at the ICC World Cup 2019 - Mohammed Shami or Bhuvneshwar Kumar?

The year 2019 has been quite good for the Indian team in ODIs so far as they have won two back-to-back series, against Australia and New Zealand. With the World Cup 2019 just ahead, these two series wins were very crucial for the Indian team as two of their main problems have now been solved.

Ambati Rayudu and Mohammed Shami were two of the biggest positives for the Indian team in the recently concluded ODI series against the Kiwis.

Shami has been quite impressive since his ODI comeback

Shami ended India's search for the third seamer as he performed extremely well in the last two ODI series. His performance was so good that he is now giving tough competition to Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the second seamer spot.

Shami and Bhuvneshvar are very different types of bowlers. Shami is someone who hits the deck hard and bowls with good pace. On the other hand, Bhuvneshwar generally relies on swing and not so much on pace.

However, both have done reasonably well for the Indian team in recent times.

In 2019, Mohammed Shami has picked up 14 wickets from 7 ODIs at an excellent average of 20.64 and economy rate of 4.93. On the other hand, Bhuvneshwar has taken 15 wickets from 8 ODIs at an impressive average of 20.67 and economy rate of 4.99.

Those numbers are eerily similar, and make choosing between the two very difficult.

But if we compare their career stats, Shami has the upper hand. He has taken 108 wickets from 59 ODIs at a good average of 25.35 and decent economy rate of 5.48. In fact, Shami recently became the fastest Indian bowler to take 100 ODI wickets.

Bhuvneshwar meanwhile has picked up 114 wickets from 103 ODIs at a mediocre average of 35.91 and solid economy rate of 4.98.

Looking at the stats, it can be said that Shami has bowled way better than Bhuvneshwar in his ODI career.

As far as their performance in the World cup is concerned, Bhuvneshwar has played just one match and picked up one wicket in the mega event. Shami on the other hand was India's leading wicket-taker in World Cup 2015; he had scalped 17 wickets from 7 matches at an excellent average of 17.29.

Based on previous records and the ability to pick up wickets, Shami should be preferred over Bhuvneshwar at the 2019 World Cup. But if the conditions are overcast and are helpful for pacers, then both of them should play alongside Jasprit Bumrah.