Who is the best bowler in the current Indian team?

In the current Indian team, there are 5–6 good bowlers and each of them is a match-winner in his day. But how to choose who is best?  This is a big debate. Let's find out.



One thing I want to say at first that they didn’t play so many matches by which we can judge  any One Bowler - who is best. And right now, Indian cricket team management are focusing on specialist, Like Bhuvaneshwar Kumar & Jasprit Bumrah are specialists of shorter format and Ishant Sharma, Md. Shami & Umesh Yadav are specialists of Test matches. There are spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin, Rabindra Jadeja, Aksar Patel, Y. Chahal & Kuldeep Yadav. All are in the race in “Who is currently BEST Bowler of India.” 

Although Chahal, Aksar Patel and Kuldeep are too early stage in their career, and we all know about Ishant Sharma's inconsistency, so he is not a good choice for the shorter format of the game. So they are out of race.

Now we will first look some career stats of remaining 6 candidates. Then we will discuss one by one.

Career Stats:

1. Bhuvneshwar Kumar :

2. Jasprit Bumrah:

3. Md. Shami:

4. Umesh Yadav:

5. R. Ashwin:

6. R. Jadeja:

Now, look at the averages and strike rates. These are the most important thing to judge a bowler that how good he is. Clearly, Umesh Yadav & Jadeja is out of the race now. Yes, Umesh may be the Fastest Bowler of India but Umesh is not the best bowler of India.

And Jadeja is also good and economical but not consistent. They both are not good in taking early wickets. And Umesh’s economy rate is also a negative point. I hope they will improve these areas.

Now, let’s talk about Ravichandran Ashwin now. No doubt that, he is the best and main spinner of India. His records across all formats are so good when he is playing in subcontinent pitches, spin-friendly pitches. But is he good in dead pitches, where there is no turn or in green pitches? Can he take wickets in Tests like Nathan Lyon in Australia? Can he fit in the ODI team when India will play in South Africa or England? These are some million dollar questions we all have in our mind. We will get these answers in the end of 2018, when India will tour in South Africa, England & Australia. Till now Ashwin didn’t show his brilliant form in outside India, specially in shorter format. So, we can’t tell him “The Best” at this moment.

Now, Jasprit Bumrah. He is the new Fast Bowling star of India. The “Yorker King”, “Indian Malinga”, “Death Over Specialist”. His T20 ranking is 3 (Previously it was 1). ODI ranking is 3. No doubt that this rising star is the BEST bowler for India, but only in shorter format. Still now, he is not tested for Test matches. So we don’t know how he can perform in Test, specially in old ball. Can he pick wickets in old ball ? Can he do the reverse swing in the old ball? We can’t tell Bumrah is Number ONE till we can get all the answers of these questions! One good news is, Bumrah makes debut in today's India-South Africa's 1st Test at Cape Town. Best wishes for him.

Now it’s time to Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. Yes, in recent times if any bowler improves his skills a lot, its Bhuvaneswar Kumar. Right now, he is the best death bowler for India alongside with Bumrah. He won so many matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad (IPL team) as well as for India (in recent times) in death overs. Some cricket-experts say, he is the now World's Best in Death Overs'. Beside that, he is Best Bowler for India if its the green pitch or overcast condition. He can destroy any kind of opponent by his poisonous swinging deliveries. He is best IPL bowler for India. But, he is not the regular team member in the white shirts. In test matches, he is second choice still now. This situation only because he is not as good with the old ball like Shami as he is with new ball. If he want to be BEST Bowler of India, then he has to be more effective with the old red ball, he has to consistent in case of reverse swing. I am sure he knows his limitations and he is working with it. I hope we will see Bhuvi is becoming more regular in White shirts too.

At last we’ll discuss about Mohammed Shami. Yes, he has the similar name with a Pakistani bowler. But right now, he is one of the BEST bowlers of Indian team. He proves his value in Tests as well as in ODIs. He is the 2nd fastest Indian to take 50 ODI wickets (Bumrah recently broke his record and became fastest Indian to take 50 wickets). He is the joint fastest Indian to take 50 wickets in Tests. He is in the race of become fastest to take 100 ODI wickets and fastest Indian to take 100 Test wickets. Look at his career strike rates in Tests, ODIs... it's just awesome. He has the fierce bouncers, he has good yorker, he is the BEST bowler in India with the old ball in Test matches. He has in-swings, out-swings, reverse-swings, 140+ pace, cutters...everything. The only problem is he don’t get chance to play the ODI matches recently after comeback from the injury, and he didn’t get ample chance to play T20 cricket neither for India nor in IPL The only concern with him is the fitness & injury. He is very prone to injury and that's why he is not consistent. Beside that we don’t know few things about him, like can he win matches in the death overs like Bhuvi or Bumrah? Can he do well in death overs in limited overs’ cricket? He is not tested in these areas yet. We can clear our doubts if team management will choose him to play limited overs’ regularly. Remember, before the injury, he was undoubtedly first choice in the ODI team, although he didn’t get chance in T20 cricket often. He has to work hard with his fitness. I’m pretty much sure if he get ample chances to play all formats of the game, Shami have immense potential to become number ONE across all format for India.

So, until we can get all the answers and clear all the doubts, we can’t choose any one as a BEST bowler. But, we can say that Shami, Bumrah & Bhuvi - these trio are the best bowlers of India with different skill-sets and all these three have the potential to be BEST bowler of the World.

Thanks for reading! Comment your thoughts.

Cheers :)