India’s bowling unit came under scrutiny following the three-match ODI series against West Indies, with the team conceding more than 1000 runs across the three games. The series, played in the absence of key pace bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, saw West Indies post totals of 295, 405 and 352 in the three matches. The third ODI was played at New Chandigarh on October 03, 2026, with West Indies winning that encounter.
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik assessed the bowling performance and highlighted the inconsistency across the attack. Speaking on the matter, Karthik expressed his concerns about the overall quality of the bowling display.
“Overall, I don’t think bowling was really up to the mark. Obviously, to give more than 1000 runs in a three-match series basically means that your bowlers have not been as good as they should be. Kuldeep Yadav has been among the wickets but economically not that great. The pacers have been rotated,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
“Nitish Kumar Reddy has not given what Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill will be looking for. There are more questions than answers with the bowling unit. That is something that they will be aware of, but the fact is that it’s such flat pitches, I don’t want to judge them with a very harsh lens because both teams went for a lot of runs,” he added.
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Depth issues without key pace bowlers
Kuldeep Yadav emerged as India’s best bowler in the series, taking seven wickets, though his economy rate raised concerns. Beyond Kuldeep and Ravindra Jadeja, the returns from other bowlers were limited. Among the pace options, Prasidh Krishna looked the most threatening, while Gurnoor Brar conceded 96 runs in the second game, Auqib Nabi gave away 84 and Anshul Kamboj leaked 82 runs. India also bowled 20 wides in the second match alone, adding to the bowling woes.
“This is an inexperienced bowling attack, we all know that. But the Indian team will be a little concerned, for sure. We saw what happened without Bumrah. We wish that Bumrah is fit and fine till the World Cup and that nothing happens to him, but in cricket anything can happen,” Rahane said.
“What are our options after him? The Indian team will be thinking about how they can give the bowlers confidence. There will be doubts created,” he added.
