Follow UsWith Arshdeep Singh and Akash Deep injured, India didn’t have a choice but to look outside the squad to reinforce their pace bowling stocks for the Manchester Test. The management ignored Harshit Rana, who was earlier with the squad, and brought in Haryana all-rounder Anshul Kamboj.
Kamboj impressed for India A, with figures of 4/62 in the second unofficial Test, after scoring his first half-century in first-class cricket. Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has backed the management to pick Kamboj in the playing XI, calling it a ‘serious bowling attack’.
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"With Bumrah and Siraj there, if you are bringing in Anshul Kamboj into the playing XI, I’m telling you, it’s a serious bowling attack," Ashwin said on his Hindi YouTube channel Ash Ki Baat.
"People can say that Anshul Kamboj will be playing his first Test. But he was there with India A. He has been in cracking form in first-class cricket. He averaged around 13 last season and even bagged 10 wickets in an innings. He had a kick-ass Duleep Trophy," he added.
“Anshul Kamboj knows how to bowl a long spell. You need that in England. Anshul will be a really good foil for Siraj and Bumrah.”
But the most interesting part of the entire conversation was when Ashwin compared the newest Test call-up Kamboj to two legends of Indian cricket - Zaheer Khan and Jasprit Bumrah. Why?
"The most appreciable thing about Anshul Kamboj is that he understands the plan. I have seen so many bowlers who, even after playing 30–40 Test matches, still don’t understand the plan. If you ask them about the plan, they just say they want to express themselves and enjoy the game," he said.
"I have seen that. It’s not a trait a lot of fast bowlers have. Zaheer Khan was one of them—he was amazing. Jassi is another one. He understands the plan, makes plans, and executes them to perfection. Anshul Kamboj belongs to that variety."
Kamboj made a serious start to his first-class cricket, with 79 wickets in just 24 games, averaging 22.88, including a 10-wicket haul in the same innings against Kerala. The all-rounder is in line for a Test debut in Manchester, where India will be playing the fourth Test of the England tour.