Former India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey said that the Indian team will miss Mohammed Shami’s experience during the tour of England. Shami was not picked by the selectors for the five-match Test series, instead giving Arshdeep Singh a maiden red-ball call-up and naming Harshit Rana as cover as well. However, Mohammad Shami has not been in the red-ball radar for quite some time, having last played a Test during the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) Final against Australia as well.

“You’ve got to miss Shami’s experience, right? Unfortunately, he is not there on the tour. Prior to this, you had three bowlers, experienced bowlers playing together. You have had Shami, Bumrah. You usually had Umesh in between. We played a lot of cricket together then. You don’t have that option out here. The second best from here is Mohammed Siraj,” Paras Mhambrey said in an interview with the Hindustan Times.

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“He needs to share the workload with Bumrah. The expectation shouldn’t be that only Bumrah will go out and deliver for you. Siraj needs to shoulder that responsibility and do the job for the team because he is the senior-most after Bumrah out here. Someone like Prasidh has only a few Test matches under his belt, and the same is true for Akash Deep. Arsh is on his debut. You don’t want to have that pressure on them,” he further added.

However, Team India have a selection conundrum regarding their pace attack, at least for the first Test where workload is not a factor. While senior bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are the sure picks, as many as four pacers are competing for the spot of the third seamer in the playing XI as well.

“Bumrah and Siraj will be your starters for sure. But I believe that you need a little variety in their bowling. So, for the first three Tests, I would like to see Prasidh in the mix. He will be able to use the conditions slightly differently. He would be in my XI. With four seamers, you have Shardul, who fits the role. As the series goes on, you might want a different angle. Then, if that’s the case, then Arsh fits in. In case you only want to go with three genuine seamers and Shardul is your fourth option, then I would prefer Prasidh,” Paras Mhambrey concluded.