Without Zaheer who will spearhead Indian bowling attack in England?

Zee Media Bureau/Chaitan Papnai

New Delhi: The much hyped India`s tour of England will kick-start from July 9, when both the teams will lock horns in the first test of the five-match series at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. India`s perennial problem – their fast bowling – will be once again the area of major concern for Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Delhi speedster, Ishant Sharma, is the most experienced bowler in the absence of veteran seamer Zaheer Khan, who hasn`t been included in the Test series due to his fitness concerns. But the major issue with Ishant has always been his inconsistency. He is arguably the most erratic bowler India has ever produced. However, the lanky speedster has performed well in the last overseas Test series against New Zealand. And if Ishant manages to bowl on good areas he can be lethal with the duke ball in English conditions, where he will not only get some extra bounce but also seam movement. Dhoni would be having five seam bowlers at his disposal in this much-awaited series. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami would be the other two seamers on which the skipper will rely. Both these bowlers have good control over their seam and swing and can be deadly with the new ball in bowling friendly tracks. Pankaj Singh, Ishwar Pandey, Varun Aaron are the other seam bowlers who have been selected for the important tour. Aaron, the fastest among the lot, can extract some extra pace from the tracks to trouble the batsmen but consistency would be the key for him. Whereas, the other three seamers would look for their maiden test caps. But one thing that all these young fast bowlers will probably miss would be the absence of Zaheer Khan. And without Zak it would be interesting to see, who would spearhead the Indian attack in the five-match long Test series.