Underbowled and underwhelming: the curious case of India's fourth seamer

The Hindu

29-07-2025

India is at sixes and sevens when it comes to properly utilising its fourth seam bowler.
Of the 672.1 overs bowled by the visitors against England in the four Tests so far, the fourth pacer has delivered just 55 overs.
It is not a secret that the current Indian team is big on having as many all-rounders as possible in the playing XI.
The fourth seamer has also been selected bearing in mind the player's batting prowess and that's why Shardul Thakur (first and fourth Tests) and Nitish Kumar (second and third Tests) got the nod.
Ideally, the captain should have confidence in the fourth pacer's abilities to keep things tight and provide the strike bowlers a breather. But the number of overs given to the 'fourth man' suggests otherwise.
It is not as if India did not require the services of its back-up pacer in the series, given that England has batted for more than 80 overs in five of its seven innings so far.
After the second day's play at Old Trafford, Shardul was given the unenviable task of explaining why he was not getting to bowl more.
'Usually, the captain takes the call. The player doesn't have much of a say. If we talk about the first Test, he said there was no chance of bowling, and I said okay. As far as this match is concerned, the way the game has progressed, I could have been given two more overs. But there is a lot of time left in the game. Hopefully, I'll get more bowling,' Shardul had said. And the next day's proceedings started with him bowling the first over!
However, that proved to be a false dawn as skipper Shubman Gill employed him just for one over and change ends for Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah.
Shardul also did not help his case as he had leaked 35 runs in his five overs the previous day. Even with the injury concerns for lead pacers Bumrah and Siraj during the game, Shardul sent down only 11 of the 157.1 overs India bowled in the fourth Test.
Intentional
Bowling coach Morne Morkel did not shy away from revealing that India relying more on the top speedsters was intentional.
'A bit of a tough fit when you have four seamers... when you're going at five runs an over, I think as a captain, you want to bring the strike bowlers back to try and take the wickets. Unfortunately, it happened for Shardul in the first Test as well,' Morkel said after the third day's play in Manchester.
England's marathon first innings had not finished by then and India had to bowl another 22.1 overs to dismiss the hosts. The workload for the fourth pacer on day four of the fourth Test: zero (no overs).
Don't put all your eggs in one basket is timeless wisdom; yet, it was almost as if India was happy to pin all its hopes on the main pacers running through the England batting line-up.
There's a chance it may work, as it did when Akash Deep and Siraj took 17 of the 20 English wickets to bowl India to a famous victory in the Edgbaston Test. But such a performance should be treated as an outlier and not the norm.
As Morkel briefly touched upon during the press conference, the fourth seamer's high economy-rate would have made it difficult for the skipper to depend on the option heavily.
The Indian think-tank should have presumed that the Bazballing English batters would target the weak link before turning their attention to the others.
Either India was okay with the fourth seamer bowling less, or it was caught blindsided by the Englishmen's aggressive approach to the back-up pacer. Neither option reflected well on the team's decision-making.
The Lord's Test was the one occasion where England batted conservatively, and this showed in Nitish's figures. His tally of 17 overs in the first innings of the third Test remains the most by an Indian fourth pacer in the series.
Nitish's economy rates in that match (3.64 and 4) read better compared to what the Englishmen plundered off him and Shardul in the series. But to hope that England will use that strategy in every match is not smart thinking.
A major part of winning a Test and being a champion side is to have the ability to take 20 wickets consistently. And India will have to be brave in its selection and stop prioritising safety-net runs from the fourth seamer.
'What is coming through for everyone, despite India's heroism with the bat, is that the selections have been quite poor. We saw what Shardul was capable of in the first Test. Despite that, he was picked again. And we saw the repeat of that inclination to have a bowler who can bat a bit. I think that thought has to be dumped,' Sanjay Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo after the fourth day of the Old Trafford Test.
Instead of looking for more runs from its lower-order, what India needs is a crafty bowler who can add depth and variety to the attack. K.L. Rahul, Gill, Washington Sundar, and Ravindra Jadeja's tenacious show in the second innings to earn a memorable draw at Old Trafford has been proof enough that the batting is in good shape and hands.
'It has been hard to understand why India looks to get players who have two skills rather than just go for quality. Kuldeep Yadav not playing so far tells you the approach of this Indian team management. They say that India needs 20 wickets, but it's going to be difficult to convince me, because if that was the case, Kuldeep would have played by now,' Manjrekar added.
'Kuldeep as fourth seamer'
Ahead of the fourth Test, former India off-spinner R. Ashwin had suggested that India play left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep 'in the role of the fourth seamer.' As weird as it may sound, there is some merit to the idea.
Kuldeep's inclusion would have given another potent weapon for Gill to turn to. It also would have been a safe bet that Kuldeep would bowl more than the 11 overs Shardul did at Old Trafford.
'You should look at Kuldeep as the fourth seamer and play him according to that role. He could come in handy in the second innings and towards the fag end of England's batting. Kuldeep could be a handful even on day one. He can definitely play the role of the fourth seamer,' said Ashwin on his YouTube channel.
As Gill's men approach the fifth Test, there are two big questions: will Kuldeep be the 'fourth seamer' and whether the visitors can square the series at The Oval? The answers are just around the corner.