Atul Sharma

[Top_Cat]

I was talking about him existing and clocking above 90 mph..well lets settle it to 95 mph?

Well he clearly exists so there goes that.

But I reckon even 90mph will be pushing it. To be fair to you, avatar bet for a month if this guy plays IPL and clocks above 90mph.

Fully expect him to not play amid claims of injury or 'he's not ready'. As you said, the IPL is pretty soon so shouldn't he have some match practice by now? Going to be raw if he plays!

EDIT: Actually, add 5mph to the speed since they're playing it in South Africa. haha

 

[Lambu]

Well he clearly exists so there goes that.

But I reckon even 90mph will be pushing it. To be fair to you, avatar bet for a month if this guy plays IPL and clocks above 90mph.

Fully expect him to not play amid claims of injury or 'he's not ready'. As you said, the IPL is pretty soon so shouldn't he have some match practice by now? Going to be raw if he plays!

Ok you're on.

 

[oldmancraigy]

Never happened. What Lambu said is right.

huh??

How can you say it 'never happened'?

He was clearly clocked at those 2 speeds - but not by the same sort of speed gun they used today.


Oh - and when you said "taking Thommo's word is foolish" - you'll notice in what I originally posted that I was careful to distance myself from acknowledging what he said as fact - but the fact is in the ball being quicker at the bowlers hand.

Michael Holding is very quick on TV (and in real life) - has been talked about as one of the fastest of all time - if, following a collarbone break and being regarded as 'not nearly as fast' - if Thomson in that circumstance can beat Holding by 7kph (148 - 141 at the batsmans end) then it's not inconceivable that he bowled 160 3 years earlier with a 'proper shoulder'. In fact, it's recorded fact that he did.

Now where it was measured is up for debate - but it seems that the people doing the measuring are the ones saying it was at the batsman's end...

He bowled a '6 byes' at the WACA.... that's fast!

 

[oldmancraigy]

I'd find it hard to believe Thommo or anyone bowled at 180 kph (not that anyone here is saying he did, of course). I do believe the man was the fastest bowler I've seen, and probably (though who knows?) the fastest ever.

But really, if he bowled at 180 kph the difference between that and even express bowlers like Lee, Akthar, Tait and the genuinely quick ones like the Lillee's (early days), Marshall, Holding (though he was probably express as well) would surely be discernable from the footage.

What I mean is, Thommo looks really quick in the footage, but so do the other fellows I've mentioned. If he was THAT much quicker than everyone else, wouldn't you notice it?

Likewise, Marsh stood a long way back to Thommo, but if you see the old footage, is he that much further back than other keepers to other really quick bowlers? I know that's hard to tell from camera angles and all, but it seems to me unlikely he or anyone else ever reached that speed.

To be fair, some of the stuff Thommo bowled Greig (in some footage) had Rod Marsh on skates taking it behind the stumps - and it looked fairly sharp.

Everyone who faced him said he was the fastest ever - so clearly they noticed it?

I doubt he made 180 - but, if that speed gun reading is "at the batsman's end" then he's quicker than the 2 speeds of 160 that were clocked.

Personally, although everyone says it was 'at the batsman', I'd be more likely to believe it's halfway down the pitch, or someplace other than 'out of the hand' - ie, maybe not directly out of the hand, but surely not right at the batsman?

If he's significantly quicker than Holding after a bung collarbone, then I'd believe he could've done 165kmh...

 

[adharcric]

I call bull****. The same sort of rubbish was printed about Munaf Patel before he was seen in public.

TS Sekhar of the MRF Pace Foundation claimed that Munaf bowls around 145 kph and may hit 150 kph with further development. On debut, he regularly bowled in the low 140s so it wasn't much of a let-down. Sure, there may have been idiots claiming that Munaf is India's Akhtar but the only credible source (his coach) was quite accurate. In the case of Atul Sharma, the hype is coming from his coach and not the media, which gives the notion a bit of credibility. Not much, but a little bit. Let's see what happens though, I'm as skeptical as the rest until I see this guy in action.

 

[andyc]

Thompson was measured at the batsmens end of the pitch and he clocked up a couple of deliveries over 100mph (160kph+). These days the trend is to measure from the bowlers hand, usually 10-15kph faster - so he was conceivably up around the 175kmh mark...
Thompson hit the sightscreen on the full at the WACA (the ball bounced on the pitch, cleared Marsh, and carried for 6 byes).
After dislocating his collar-bone in 1976 he lost a LOT of pace - but was still able to beat Michael Holding to win a 'fast bowling contest' by clocking 148kph (Holding made 141).

He bowled a '6 byes' at the WACA.... that's fast!

Not true. 6 byes is impossible (without overthrows and all).

 

[oldmancraigy]

Not true. 6 byes is impossible (without overthrows and all).

Really??

I thought that it was it was "possible" - a bowler bowls a bouncer, it clears the head of the keeper, and hits the sightscreen on the full. 6 byes. If that's only 4, my bad...

But it's not only possible to do what was just written, but If you were you at the WACA for Aus v Eng in the early 70s, you would have seen this happen.
Chappelli Speaks Out - Google Book Search

 

[honestbharani]

Don't.Believe.The.Hype.

 

[Burpmybelly]

Perhaps he is quick?

Won't please the wife.

 

[Arjun]

In Indian domestic cricket, the top pace bowlers are only a little over medium-pace, and do a very good job. India is stereotyped as a tough place for pace bowlers, yet you find several medium-pacers (and a little faster) maintain averages a little over 20. On the other hand, some rookie pacers struggle to even finish a domestic season, and don't offer anything except for the promise of pace- many can't bat, some can't even field.

You can look at one team to spot the difference. Gagandeep Singh has an average under 20. He's maintained this average for more than five seasons. He's maintained this average in India, not in England or New Zealand. He can move the ball quite well when it's new, and gets a good shape. He keeps a line and length for quite some time. He's also a very effective fielder, though not much of a batsman. But he misses out, for that obvious reason- lack of pace. On the other hand, you have VRV Singh, who's been hyped as a pace prospect. He isn't very fast, and though he has a tendency to brush the stumps in his run-up, he sprays the ball all around, oversteps and gets the ball at an easy pace to hit to the boundary. Worse, he's no good with the bat, can't field and has missed several matches due to injury.

There's no point picking someone just because he can apparently bowl fast. Pick someone who'll get a job done. We don't know if Atul Sharma fits the bill, but except for pace, he may end up picking up a lot less wickets than Joginder Sharma, who's a full-fledged batsman for his team, and we know where he is now.

 

[Cricket_God]

In Indian domestic cricket, the top pace bowlers are only a little over medium-pace, and do a very good job. India is stereotyped as a tough place for pace bowlers, yet you find several medium-pacers (and a little faster) maintain averages a little over 20. On the other hand, some rookie pacers struggle to even finish a domestic season, and don't offer anything except for the promise of pace- many can't bat, some can't even field.

You can look at one team to spot the difference. Gagandeep Singh has an average under 20. He's maintained this average for more than five seasons. He's maintained this average in India, not in England or New Zealand. He can move the ball quite well when it's new, and gets a good shape. He keeps a line and length for quite some time. He's also a very effective fielder, though not much of a batsman. But he misses out, for that obvious reason- lack of pace. On the other hand, you have VRV Singh, who's been hyped as a pace prospect. He isn't very fast, and though he has a tendency to brush the stumps in his run-up, he sprays the ball all around, oversteps and gets the ball at an easy pace to hit to the boundary. Worse, he's no good with the bat, can't field and has missed several matches due to injury.

There's no point picking someone just because he can apparently bowl fast. Pick someone who'll get a job done. We don't know if Atul Sharma fits the bill, but except for pace, he may end up picking up a lot less wickets than Joginder Sharma, who's a full-fledged batsman for his team, and we know where he is now.

Simple answer is-Speed guns used in india are faulty Every bowler who clocks 120km/h
in domestic clocks 130 km/h in international cricket and those who clock 130 In Domestic
clock 140 km/h in international cricket.Vrv was talked about as a 135-145 bowler and he has clocked 145 so i do not get your point.

 

[OnDrive]

Is this Atul Sharma, or The Stig we are talking about?
Considering the secrecy, and the tales of him eating mountain goats whole for lunch, and training under ninjas for invisibility makes me suspect that the Stig is finally leaving Top Gear to get an IPL Contract.

 

[Arjun]

Simple answer is-Speed guns used in india are faulty Every bowler who clocks 120km/h
in domestic clocks 130 km/h in international cricket and those who clock 130 In Domestic
clock 140 km/h in international cricket.Vrv was talked about as a 135-145 bowler and he has clocked 145 so i do not get your point.

If bowlers in India are faster than what the speedgun readings suggest, those batsmen who can bowl a bit can surely bowl fast enough in international cricket. The real test comes when you place one bowler who's proven to be fast, and then compare the pace of those domestic bowlers with his pace. VRV Singh has only bowled in the 130s, with the odd 140k delivery. Nowhere near consistent 145k with a few in the 150k range. That's not enough to compensate for all his other shortcomings as a bowler or plainly as a selection.

 

[Jono]

When I read this I thought of...

YouTube - Rocky & Ivan Drago Training before Fight

 

[Cricket_God]

TS Sekhar of the MRF Pace Foundation claimed that Munaf bowls around 145 kph and may hit 150 kph with further development. On debut, he regularly bowled in the low 140s so it wasn't much of a let-down. Sure, there may have been idiots claiming that Munaf is India's Akhtar but the only credible source (his coach) was quite accurate. In the case of Atul Sharma, the hype is coming from his coach and not the media, which gives the notion a bit of credibility. Not much, but a little bit. Let's see what happens though, I'm as skeptical as the rest until I see this guy in action.

Munaf fastest is 147.5 km/h in his debut test so it was not bull**** before
then greg and ian frazer advised him that he did not have the body to bowl fast and turn in to a line bowler.so guys who have been supposed to have been fast have really been fast.

 

[Arjun]

When I read this I thought of...

And we know what happened after that.

 

[Arjun]

Munaf fastest is 147.5 km/h in his debut test so it was not bull**** before
then greg and ian frazer advised him that he did not have the body to bowl fast and turn in to a line bowler.so guys who have been supposed to have been fast have really been fast.

Munaf is lazy. Where is Greg Chappell now? He's still bowling slow as any other Indian seam-up bowler, and doing nothing else. He still plays like the team needs to play for him.

 

[Cricket_God]

If bowlers in India are faster than what the speedgun readings suggest, those batsmen who can bowl a bit can surely bowl fast enough in international cricket. The real test comes when you place one bowler who's proven to be fast, and then compare the pace of those domestic bowlers with his pace. VRV Singh has only bowled in the 130s, with the odd 140k delivery. Nowhere near consistent 145k with a few in the 150k range. That's not enough to compensate for all his other shortcomings as a bowler or plainly as a selection.

He clocked over 140 consistantly in his debut odi match reaching 145 km/h.He has
played few matches in between,In southafrica he was fast although he did not get the wickets
he bowled quick and the speedmeters used by espn are faulty,If he is persisted he will
increase his speed to 145km/h as he has the body and action to do it.Ishant sharma,
sreesanth,zaheer,R.p were not that quick when they started but as they played in the team
with confidence there pace increased.

 

[Cricket_God]

Munaf is lazy. Where is Greg Chappell now? He's still bowling slow as any other Indian seam-up bowler, and doing nothing else. He still plays like the team needs to play for him.

Munaf bowled in the 130-142 km/h in the current test and if goes back to his slingly action
he would easily bowl 145km/h

 

[Arjun]

He clocked over 140 consistantly in his debut odi match reaching 145 km/h.He has
played few matches in between,In southafrica he was fast although he did not get the wickets
he bowled quick and the speedmeters used by espn are faulty,If he is persisted he will
increase his speed to 145km/h as he has the body and action to do it.Ishant sharma,
sreesanth,zaheer,R.p were not that quick when they started but as they played in the team
with confidence there pace increased.

VRV Singh is very injury-prone, and a major fitness worry. He can't field too well, with the ball going for a boundary between his legs. He's missed most of this year's (or rather all of this year's) domestic matches. So far, Zaheer and Ishant are doing a good job and that's all you need. Unless VRV Singh is the next Dale Steyn or Shaun Tait, he's of no use.

Munaf bowled in the 130-142 km/h in the current test and if goes back to his slingly action
he would easily bowl 145km/h

So what is stopping him? I'm still not convinced about his fitness. He's still lazy on the field, when he should be doing a lot better, being a young fast bowler. Fair, he's got some pace. Fair, he can get more with a change in action. However, the lack of effort on his part to make a difference is startling.

From this perspective, I don't know what value Atul Sharma will add, given that these two bowlers were in the team solely on the promise of pace, and neither fit the bill. If you expect him to be India's express pace bowler, think, is he capable of competing with Steyn and Tait? Only then can he make this team. The India cap has to be earned.