Test of pace: Can the senior pros deliver?

Bhuvneshwar, Shami and Siraj, three experienced Indian pacers, will have a lot to prove in the upcoming season

- GOMESH S @ Chennai

IT is that time of the year when the majority of the cricketing world comes to a stop, witnessing and celebrating the two-month-long carnival that is the Indian Premier League.

And over the past 17 years, one thing every team of the league has looked to do is get their pace bowling core intact. That is why overseas fast bowlers are always in demand, but more often than not it is the team that has a solid group of Indian pacers that has thrived.

While Lasith Malinga and Dwayne Bravo are always the two names discussed when it comes to an all-time IPL bowling attack, Trent Boult is not far off, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah are right up there with them.

In fact, Kumar is all set to become the highest wicket-taking pacer in the league surpassing Bravo (183) who is only two wickets ahead of him. Kumar's 181 scalps have come in 176 games as he has been at the front and center of Sunrisers Hyderabad's success over the past decade. Bumrah's choice is of course a no-brainer—165 wickets in just 133 games at an economy of 7.3 and a strike rate of 18.5. Then there are Sandeep Sharma, Harshal Patel, Mohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jaydev Unadkat and Mohammed Siraj.