"Best pace attack in the world." It sounds like an unreal tag for those tracking India in World Cups from the 1970s. For a very long time, that tag was reserved for the West Indies. Then it was Pakistan's turn to take over the mantle. In due course, the pace bowling crown shifted to Australia, but come the 13th edition, there's a strong belief that India's pace battery - consisting of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj - is the best in the business.
But the big question is whether the Indian team management itself believes in the theory. In the lead-up to the World Cup, India have shown the tendency to use only two of these three brilliant pace bowlers together. Instead of unleashing the terrific trio who are completely different bowlers, Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid have preferred to use two - with Hardik Pandya doing the third pacer's job. The think-tank, one felt, had decided before the Asia Cup that Kuldeep Yadav had to play with Ravindra Jadeja, with Axar Patel filling the spinning allrounders spots.
