Who will take wickets in the middle overs? Shubman Gill hopes for a tall fast bowler

Prasidh Krishna, left, is greeted by captain Shubman Gill after his five-wicket haul during the third and final ODI cricket match between India and Afghanistan, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. (PTI photo) TimesofIndia.com in Chennai: One of India’s biggest fears ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup has been its inability to bat consistently in the middle overs. Between overs 20 and 35, when teams often try to consolidate before launching into the death game, breakthroughs have come only in patches.This trend has been evident across recent bilateral series. Against Australia, India managed just four wickets at the stage in three matches, while New Zealand exposed the problem further, with India losing a wicket in the middle overs in the Rajkot and Indore ODIs, which they eventually lost. South Africa offered a brighter picture as Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna combined for nine wickets in three matches.Afghanistan’s series continued with mixed returns. India took five wickets in the rain-shortened Dharamsala ODI and another five in Lucknow, but managed just one mid-wicket in Chennai despite dominating the contest.Interestingly, the team management seems to be losing faith in left arm Kuldeep Yadav, who has been India’s real keeper in the middle overs, Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill will have to find a solution.Captain Gill believes the answer lies in India’s tall fast bowlers: Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana, who he believes are capable of creating opportunities even when the conditions offer little help.“Honestly, the combination and the kind of bowlers we are trying to play is part of what we are building. We want to create as many opportunities as possible,” Gill told reporters after India sealed a 3-0 win over Afghanistan.“In that middle stage, we have seen that once the ball gets a little old on a good wicket, when there are only four fielders outside the circle, it becomes much easier to bat. That is why we try to play bowlers like Prasidh and Harshit. They are tall and fast bowlers who offer us something different.“At the same time, it is important to give someone like Nitish Kumar Reddy enough overs in the middle, even though we know there may be better options for those conditions that can get us wickets. It is important that players like him gain confidence going into the World Cup,” added Gill.Gill said India’s young fast bowlers are trained to adapt quickly to different surfaces by identifying the ideal length as early as possible. On red-soil wickets, he wants the bowls to be fuller, while black-soil pitches require slightly shorter lengths.The emphasis, he said, is on consistently hitting the top of the off-stump, around the fourth stump area – the hardest line for batsmen to score from. India also want their pacers to use their natural bounce to create wicket-taking opportunities, even if it does lead to extra runs at times.“It’s about judging the wicket. Different wickets require different lengths. You have to bowl a bit fuller on a wicket like this, whereas on a black-earth wicket you might have to bowl a bit shorter. As a bowling unit, we try to assess the conditions as early as possible and consistently hit the top ball outside the off-stump,” he said of the area’s full stump.“At the same time, we want to continue to use the bounce. It also gives batsmen opportunities to score, but it also creates scoring chances for us.”Gill seemed quite happy with the Indian quartet’s performance in the series. It was the debut series for Gurnoor Brar and Prince Yadav and the skipper felt it was an encouraging sign.“It’s very encouraging. These are great signs for Indian cricket that we can continue to produce fast bowlers who are consistently passing 140-plus,” said Gill, who was named the Player of the Series.“We’ve got a good bunch of tall fast bowlers who can hit the right spots and still create opportunities with the old ball even when the wicket or conditions aren’t helping them much.”Among the tall fast bowlers, Gurnoor Brar was probably the find of the series. The 2.5m pacer took seven wickets in three games, bowled at a quick pace and got good bounce off the surface. But Gill feels Brar has a lot to learn going forward and hopes the 26-year-old pacer will only grow in confidence from here.“I think he’s ticked most of the boxes. Some things just come with experience and hopefully he’ll grow as a pitcher.“If I’m being really critical, he’s conceded a few runs and he’s been a bit inconsistent at times. But he’s young, he’s playing his first series at the highest level and he’s bowling fast. He’s got all the qualities we want in a young, tall fast bowler and he’s only going to get better with experience,” Gill said.Prasidh Krishna, another tall fast bowler, blew away Afghanistan on a pitch with some pace and bounce in Chennai and produced a sensational bowling display to claim his maiden ODI five-for.“What he brings to the table is that we saw there was good bounce in the wicket early on and the ball was doing a little bit well,” said Gill, heaping praise on his Gujarat Titans team-mate.“If he keeps hitting those areas, he can create a lot of opportunities for us as a pitcher. If he continues to do that, it’s going to be great for the team.”Gill said India are keeping their fast bowling plans flexible rather than assigning fixed roles. With Jasprit Bumrah expected to return for the England tour, he hinted that Bumrah could take the new ball, while Prasidh Krishna is equally capable of doing so if needed.“It’s about flexibility. There isn’t one fixed role,” Gill said.The skipper added that the management is encouraging the bowlers to adapt to different combinations and mix with maximum intensity.“We’re trying different combinations and encouraging our bowlers to give it their all whether they’re playing with the new ball or as a first change,” he said.“We talked about giving bowlers like Prasidh and Gurnoor shorter spells of three or four overs and asking them to play their hearts out and bowl as fast as possible.Whether the experiment will ultimately be successful will be seen just before the FIFA World Cup, but India’s direction is evident. Instead of relying solely on wrist spin for breakthroughs, management invests in a battery of tall fast bowlers who can extract bounce, hit the deck hard and force errors even on a quiet surface. If Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana continue to develop, India could head into the World Cup with a very different plan for the middle overs.