THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When India toured England this July, former England skipper Alastair Cook made a striking comment on India’s fast bowling attack. The batsman described the pace attack of the visiting team as unusually strong.
Having had many skirmishes with India, Cook knew India’s pace department almost like the back of his hand and was quick to admit what he felt was a refreshing change from the past when India did not have the luxury of bragging about an eclectic pool of pacers. Cook’s words reflected the changing scenario of the Indian attack that for several decades hinged on spin wizardry.
But this has been witnessing paradigm shift for some time. A bunch of quality pacers have come knocking the doors. Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav and the most recent one being Khaleel Ahmed, the Tonk man, who brings in variety by virtue of being a left-armer.
The arrival of young blood in hordes has brought a new dimension to the Indian attack that was unthinkable till a decade back.
“Now, we have got exciting bench strength,” said India’s bowling coach Bharathi Arun on Wednesday, a day before the fifth and final ODI against West Indies.
“When we played against South Africa, it was the first time in the history of Indian cricket that we went into a match without a single spinner. We happened to win that Test match as well. This augurs really well for Indian cricket,” he said with reference to India’s tour of South Africa earlier this year.
The ongoing ODI series has vindicated the team management’s thoughts on fast bowlers. White-ball specialist Bhuvneshwar has been struggling to be among the wickets of late. He has only managed to take 10 in the last 13 ODIs and his average in this period reads an ignominious 52.60.
However, the rest of the pace pack have stepped up to make up for Bhuvi’s pale show. In the third ODI which the West Indies won to level the series 1-1, Bumrah had taken a four-for. In the fourth game, it was a different player, Ahmed, who broke the visiting team’s back by taking three scalps.
Ahmed’s show is something that augurs well for India in the run-up to next year’s World Cup. After Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan, he could be counted as one who could jazz up India’s bowling attack. He can swing the ball both ways and operates at a decent pace. The lanky pacer can also extract bounce and Arun felt he could be an asset for the country.
“He is sharp and has got the skills to do well at the international level,” Arun said.
Apart from individual brilliance, the good show that the bowlers provide whenever they are being rotated also gives the management the opportunity to use resources with discretion. “We need bench strength to sustain fast bowling over a long period of time. You need to rotate these bowlers and the work load management has to be monitored,” the coach said.
Last Call
With India taking on West Indies in the ODI series decider today, Express takes a look at what to expect from this tantalising clash...
fast forward
Doesn’t really need to prove a point, since he’s a sure-shot for World Cup. But after his Pune mauling, Bhuvneshwar Kumar showed a bit of his A game in Mumbai. A good performance will do his confidence a world of good.
keep the faith?
Dhoni’s waning form with the bat has forced quite a few rejigs in India’s XI, if Ravindra Jadeja being opted over gun spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is anything to go by. A solid knock at the Sports Hub could be the salve the stumper’s career is in need of at the moment.
left in a Tailspin
In the middle overs, West Indies’ spinners have been as lethal as a deer caught in headlights. Stemming easy runs in this period has been a problem. They may look at bringing in Devendra Bishoo instead of Fabian Allen for doing so.
Top-pled
19, 20, 25, 36. That’s how the first wicket has fared for the visitors. Chandrapaul Hemraj and Kieran Powell have been walking wickets. Considering their over-reliance on Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer and Jason Holder, the two have to deliver.
Pitch & conditions
A flat, dry pitch is in store for players today. Apart from very high humidity, there are predictions of a thunderstorm midway through the match.
Stat attack
1 This is the first ODI to be played at Sports Hub.
1 MS Dhoni is one run away from 10,000 ODI runs for India.
2 Wickets needed by Bhuvneshwar to reach the 100 mark in
this format.
6 A win will give India their sixth successive ODI series victory at home.
shan.as@newindianexpress.com