Why India can win the ODI series against Australia and New Zealand despite Bumrah’s absence

The Indian team management has made the right call by resting Jasprit Bumrah, India’s lead pacer and the hero of their maiden Test series win in Australia, for the upcoming ODI series against Australia and New Zealand. It is important to preserve India’s talisman, with the ICC World Cup on the horizon, where he is expected to be the key to India’s success.

There is no doubting the fact that India’s ODI line up will be a bit weakened in Bumrah’s absence. However, India still has a team good enough to beat Australia.

Bumrah’s replacement Mohammed Siraj has been in red hot form in recent times. His performances in the domestic season have been nothing short of outstanding. So, his exclusion from the Indian squad in the first place was a surprise. His pace and bounce, along with the ability to bowl deadly yorkers, makes him an ideal replacement for Bumrah.

In Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami, India has a terrific opening bowling pair, and in Siraj and the left-hander Khaleel Ahmed, Kohli has two very capable bowlers to choose as his third seamer.

In fact, if a certain pitch is not felt to be conducive to any swing, then Kohli may even decide to drop Bhuvneshwar Kumar and have the other three bowlers who have more pace. However, one should keep in mind that Kumar too has added a yard or two to his pace in recent years and is no longer just a medium pace bowler.

With Hardik Pandya back from injury, India’s pace bowling department looks to be in great shape. Not just Sydney where the first ODI will be played, but some other pitches too may assist spin bowling and India has three world class spinners to choose from.

Moreover, in Kedar Jadhav, India has a batsman who is also a handy spinner and can control the flow of runs and can break partnerships, as he has shown time and again in his career.

So, despite the absence of Bumrah, India’s bowling attack is good enough to win India the ODI series against Australia and New Zealand.

India’s ODI batting line up is probably the best in the world. Despite some concerns about the form of MS Dhoni, there is no major worry on that front as well.