Strike Force India

 

 

It is the kind of cricket wisdom that perhaps predates W G Grace. For long ‘Bowlers win test matches and batsmen save Tests’ has been an adage whose truth has been held to be self evident. Every team that has had a great run in the Test arena always threw up images of a fearsome bowling attack than a set of destructive batsmen. Sure, the West Indies had a Viv Richards but it was the pace quartet that was feared more. Australia’s true turnaround in the modern era started with the emergence of Glenn McGrath in the West Indies tour of 1994 and Shane Warne in England. Pakistan’s flashes of brilliance have always radiated from the winding run up of a Waqar Younis or a Wasim Akram. And the way the tide is currently turning (Ishant Sharma just bagged a man of the series award in a home series – a feat achieved last by an Indian fast bowler when Kapil Dev won it against the West Indies way back in 1983), it would not be far fetched to crown India’s bowling line up as best in the world.

Before you restrain me for going over the edge with an over hyped statement, let me present my defence. It would be hard to explain their recent run against the World’s no.1 test team, Australia, otherwise. Over 2008, India has a record of 3-1 against the Aussies over 7 tests, and if you exclude the controversial Sydney test, it is 3-0 over 6. That remarkable streak has been crafted particularly courtesy of some phenomenal bowling, be it Ishant Sharma’s burst against Ponting, Zaheer Khan’s potent mix of aggression, accuracy and reverse swing, Amit Mishra’s good old fashion leg spin or Harbhajan Singh’s uncanny ability to strike when it matters. Javagal Srinath, arguably one of India’s all time great cricketers and one of its best fast bowlers wholeheartedly agrees. “I think the way they (the Indian bowlers) have turned out playing the series against Australia, that itself is evidence enough to say that it is the best bowling attack in the world at the moment,” he told TSI.

So, does this attack have what it takes to be the best in the world? Just look around and you find that post McGrath and Warne, Australia have only one spearhead, Brett Lee, and Johnson and Clark have been stock bowlers at best. Even Krejza’s debut success is a matter of statistics rather than truly great bowling. South Africa doesn’t quite have the replacement for an Allan Donald or even a Shaun Pollock as yet and Sri Lanka seem too reliant on Muralitharan and Mendis. We’ve had the fab four for a good part of the last decade and some more but the results and wins (especially away) have started trickling in the past half a decade since that historic series in Australia back in 2003. Think about the win at Adelaide (and Zaheer’s burst that preceded it in a rain hit Brisbane Test that ended in draw but set the tone for the titanic tussles to follow), the one at Headingly, at Trent Bridge or the one at Perth and the pattern is hard to miss. There’s a quiet revolution that has swept cricket academies in India in the recent past, and it has nothing to do with batsmen spending hours in the nets protecting their wickets to win a one rupee coin at the end of the day. A new breed of Indian bowler – mentally and physically – is taking shape. The hard work and toil of people like T A Sekar at the MRF Pace Foundation and bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad has resulted in greater cognizance the impact bowlers can have on a team’s fortunes. Prasad, himself a lanky exception amidst dozens of turners and trundlers, has been “One of the reasons of the success of this Indian bowling contingent” says one time teammate Srinath. “I think credit should be given to Prasad who has worked very well behind the scenes to bring some meaning into the fast bowling department” he adds. And the number of different bowlers who have done their bit in the last year or so is even more heartening. Two of them, Munaf Patel (who won India his debut test against England) and R P Singh (who bowled brilliantly in England and then Australia) have watched this current series from the sidelines. The fact remains that a pool of bowlers of top caliber is competing for spots, a luxury Indian cricket has never before afforded. The day when a kid picks up a ball and says ‘I want to be the next Ishant’ doesn’t seem too far off and the joke about the lack of Indian fast bowlers is currently on the teams and batsmen that have been tormented by Zaheer, Ishant and Co. Says Srinath, “In the last 3-4 years there has been a sudden burst in fast bowlers in India, especially the good ones… Zaheer Khan has found his line and length back and he has been a more responsible bowler and the leader of the pack, then Ishant Sharma has been doing extremely well and I think he is the best news for Indian cricket.” No wonder, during the Mohali test, Australian commentator Glenn Mitchell remarked on ABC that Ishant is the ‘best fast bowler in the world right now’.

Srinath thinks that “spin has been our forte and now the fast bowlers have found their footing and our bowling (attack) is one of the most potent in the world!” The fine balance the attack has achieved has been the prime reason. India has always suffered from a skew towards spin but as Srinath points out that “there is a good balance between the spinners and the fast bowlers and they are working in tandem.” And he labels it “one of the finest balanced bowling attacks in the world.” Former Indian fast bowler Atul Wassan suggests the following strategy “when we tour abroad, then we (typically) play with three seamers and one spinner. I hope Amit Mishra can potentially carry on the same way… we would have Zaheer and Ishant as front line pacers, with Munaf and R P Singh on the bench and then Harbajan and Amit Mishra play” The defining feature of this Indian attack is variety and balance and that could well be the clincher for the team to reign atop the test world. Indian bowling has finally discovered its fangs it so yearned for. Now to use it to claw its way to the top.