As the first Test of the five-match series between England and India approaches, the latter are missing Mohammed Shami. The ace pacer, who is now the most experienced pacer in the squad, formed a strong tandem with Jasprit Bumrah on India’s previous tour to the United Kingdom, but this time just the younger of the two has travelled to lead the bowling attack.

Meanwhile, former India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey has stated that the speed department will much miss the Indian team.

He also noted how Shami used to be Bumrah’s ideal bowling partner, but now it must be someone like Mohammed Siraj, who is little less experienced but still the second-most crucial addition to the unit.

“You must miss Shami’s experience, right? Unfortunately, he is not present on the trip. Prior to this, you had three experienced bowlers playing together. You’ve had Shami, Bumrah. You generally had Umesh in the middle. We played a lot of cricket back then. “You don’t have that option out here,” Mhambrey told the Hindustan Times.

“The second best from here is Mohammed Siraj. He needs to share the weight with Bumrah. The expectation should not be that just Bumrah will go out and perform for you. Siraj, as the senior-most member of the team after Bumrah, must take on that duty and do his part. Prasidh, for example, has only played a few Test matches, and Akash Deep is similarly inexperienced. Arsh [Arshdeep Singh] is making his debut. “You don’t want to put that pressure on them,” he said.

More about the series: the tour will begin with the first Test at Headingley in Leeds on June 20. Both red-ball heavyweights will then continue the series with the next four games at Edgbaston (Birmingham), Lord’s (London), Manchester, and finally The Oval. With Bumrah only available for three Tests in the series, it will be intriguing to see who makes the playing XI for the remaining games.