Best Bowler In The World Isn't Playing: David Lloyd Raises Concern Over India's Pace Attack
India is all ready to kick start their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign against Bangladesh on February 20, Thursday, in Dubai. But before the campaign, they suffered a major setback with Jasprit Bumrah missing the tournament due to a back injury. Harshit Rana has been named as a replacement for Bumrah, who is one of the futures of Indian cricket but is a bit inexperienced and recently made his debut in the three-match ODI series against England.
The star pacer Mohammad Shami is considered fully fit but still on his way to regaining his natural form, and Arshdeep Singh is yet to prove his abilities in the 50-over format cricket. To which it states India's pace attack is a bit weak as of now after Bumrah's absence.
"Best bowler in the world isn't playing" - David Lloyd
Former England cricketer David Lloyd showed his concern after Bumrah's absence in the major ICC tournament. He stated that India is going to miss him, as the best bowler in the world from their team isn't playing.
"You are going to miss him (Bumrah). You can't get away from the fact that the best bowler in the world isn't playing; then you've got a problem."
"Test him out, this is not T20" - David Lloyd
Further, he questioned Arshdeep Singh's abilities to lead India in ODI format, stating that this is not T20. He also stated that the opposition should test him out and really get into him.
"If you are the opposition, test him out, really get into him. This is not T20; this is not a little party. You've got to come back and come back again, and that is something he won't be used to. If you are the opposition, you try and play on that; let's see what he's got."
INDIA'S SQUAD FOR ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY 2025
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (Vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, and Varun Chakaravarthy.
Non-Travelling Substitutes
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj, and Shivam Dube.