India Tour of England: 5 Indian bowlers who deserve a chance

Indian cricketers are currently getting some deserved rest with the IPL 2025 being suspended. Most of the players will have their eyes on the upcoming five-match tour of England that is set to begin on 20th June with the first Test match set to be played in Headingly in Leeds. On the batting front, India has already lost the services of Rohit Sharma due to retirement and are set to see Virat Kohli call time on his Test career. 

As far as the bowling is concerned, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammed Shami are set to be the three frontline pacers. Ravindra Jadeja is set to play as the main spin option with Kuldeep Yadav also in the fray. Bumrah, who is making his return to cricket after his injury, has been bowling well in the IPL 2025 season. The 31-year-old, though, isn’t expected to play all five games owing to workload management. 

On Sunday, Times of India carried a report stating that Mohammed Shami’s Test future too could be under the scanner. The 34-year-old hasn’t bowled well in IPL 2025 owing to concerns over his fitness. Mohammed Siraj could become the de facto leader of the bowling attack and will be expected to play a key role in all five matches in the England tour. 

Here are the top five Indian bowlers who deserve a chance in England tour

5- Avesh Khan 

28-year-old Avesh Khan has been on the peripherals of the Test team for a while now. With Bumrah’s workload management and uncertainty over Shami, it could be the right time to blood Avesh into the Test side. The 28-year-old has already played 49 first-class matches and picked 180 wickets. Avesh has picked eight fifers and two ten-wicket match hauls. The right-arm seamer bowls with decent pace and has a very lethal bouncer that can trouble the batters. 

4- Jaydev Unadkat 

Veteran left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat has always had a stop-and-start international career. Saurashtra skipper ended his 12-year wait for Test cricket when he made his return in 2022. Unadkat has played two seasons of county cricket for Sussex taking 33 wickets and has good experience of playing in the English conditions. The 33-year-old has played a total of 127 first-class matches and taken 447 wickets. Unadkat is also more than dependable with the bat, with 2133 first-class runs with an average of 16 along with eight fifties. 

3- Khaleel Ahmed 

Pace bowler Khaleel Ahmed has been one of the bright sparks for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025 in what has been a woeful campaign. Khaleel has picked 14 wickets this campaign and bowled with decent pace and also swung the ball in conditions which have favoured his bowling. Khaleel is yet to make his Test debut and considering his recent performance, the 27-year-old could find himself on the tour. In the last Ranji season, Khaleel played four games and picked 16 wickets for Rajasthan, which also included a fifer. 

2- Prasidh Krishna 

The best bowler of IPL 2025 so far has been 29-year-old Prasidh Krishna with 20 wickets from 11 games. The right-arm fast bowler has also played three Test matches and claimed eight wickets, with six of them coming in his last game at the Sydney Cricket Ground earlier this year. Krishna has the pace and bounce that could test the English batters. The 29-year-old also has a good amount of experience in the first-class format with 88 wickets from 24 matches. 

1- Arshdeep Singh 

Indian selectors could finally the reward the 26-year-old his first ever Test call-up after years of wait. Arshdeep Singh is slowly becoming India’s top bowler in the white-ball formats. The 26-year-old also has done well in the red-ball format and his ability to swing the ball both ways will make him a dangerous bowler in English conditions. Arshdeep also has played county cricket last season and did well to pick 13 wickets and impress his teammates with his work ethics.