Basil Thampi, Mohammed Siraj, Avesh Khan and Navdeep Saini are four fast bowlers who are likely to travel with the 17-member Indian squad for their tour of South Africa, starting January 5, 2018.
The team management has requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to let these four bowlers accompany the team to what is expected to be a tough challenge for Virat Kohli's men, who have dominated top teams at home over the last few years.
The idea behind taking four extra pacers is to reduce the workload of six frontline pacers -- Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, who are crucial to India's chances in South Africa.
"It will serve a double purpose. The young pacers will learn a lot by travelling with the team and bowling to international batsmen. It will also reduce the workload of our pacers in the nets. The request is to keep them for at least three weeks," a source aware of developments told the Bangalore Mirror.
While Hyderabad pacer Siraj made his debut for the Indian team during the recently-concluded three-match T20I series against New Zealand, Kerala fast bowler Thampi, who impressed during Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 stint with Gujarat Lions, received his maiden India call-up for the upcoming T20I rubber against Sri Lanka.
On the other hand, Madhya Pradesh's Avesh, who played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) during IPL 2017, had impressed skipper Kohli with his pace and control. The 20-year-old, who had performed well at the U-19 level, has the ability to move the ball in conditions conducive to swing bowling.
Delhi pacer Navdeep Saini, 24, has been consistently performing at the domestic level and is among the top-30 bowlers in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2017/18 season with 19 wickets from five matches.
The nod for the four fast bowlers to travel to South Africa is expected to be given by BCCI CEO Rahul Johri.
India focussed on SA challenge
Despite lamenting about lack of preparation time for the all-important South Africa tour, Team India are leaving no stones unturned.
While captain Kohli being rested for the upcoming limited-over leg of the Sri Lanka series, the inclusion of ODI and T20I specialist Bumrah in the squad tells us that the team has been focussing on the upcoming challenge.
