deeps said:
i'm not supporting any pace attack. All i said, was that there is no point in selecting a bowler, based soley on his pace.
I'm not saying you are supporting some slow pace attack, but that's a very common excuse made by sympathetic fans for teams that lack pace bowlers. However, if you look at any world-class pace attack, there is at least one bowler who can bowl consistently at break-neck speeds.
Rana has shown, it doesn't take pace, to get wickets. Mcgrath has shown over the years... Pollock. etc etc.
Rana has had the best of helpful conditions and out-of-form batting sides. When the pitch is flat and Sehwag is in form, he can take this medium-pace stuff apart. Even at his best, he has a pace bowler at the other end or before him. McGrath has Lee partnering him in ODI's, and Gillespie is not too slow either. Pollock had Donald, Ntini and now Nel bowling with him. Thus, having one fast bowler in the pace attack can indirectly reduce the burden on those who stick to seam/swing bowling.
Zaheer is bowlin with more heart nowadays, and is bowlin extremely well, but hasn't got much to show for it.
Fully agree. He has bowled the way a strike bowler should, but has lacked support. He had a good comeback to ODI's in Kochi, after being dropped from Tests. He is the best and most seasoned pacer in this side and should be backed the most.
Nehra is also much improved, and he is taking his cricket ALOT more seriously now. You can tell, the way he gets annoyed when someone misfields, the way he conducts himself when he's fielding etc. He's a much changed player.
Got it right there. He's running in hard, he's using a lot of variations in his bowling, the short ball is used to good effect and most importantly, it's wicket-to-wicket. Stands out in this mess, and if he keeps up such a performance consistently, and not just against Pakistan, he can be a good long-term choice as a strike bowler.
Balaji is a very good bowler, who has struggled since coming back from injury. However it's been afridi that has mucked up his figures. He needs to learn where to bowl, to afridi (dont ask me where that is, coz i have nfi)
Balaji lacks pace. Afridi is a berserk hitter. Put the two together and Afridi can read the swing and adjust his position, his stance and his shot, then swing the bat hard- and watch the ball go to the stands. He's likely to go for a lot of runs in ODI's because he relies on swing and may struggle on conditions where there is no swing available.
Finally pathan, who needs to have a stint back in domestic cricket....
He was just an understudy, but did well in the opportunities that he got. However, he was, and still is, just a rookie. That's no choice for a strike bowler's role. The selectors made that mistake and it's now cost them dearly.
Pathan can swing the ball more than some other bowlers in this side, but he hasn't put it to good effect- he hasn't taken a five-wicket haul in Tests or ODI's against a serious opposition. The late swing he used to get isn't so effective, particularly when he's not bowling fast, and even less so when he's not bowling on the spot. He is out of form, he may not be fully fit and he should return to Baroda, complete two full seasons with Baroda and West and then return. He didn't have inspiring FC stats as a bowler or a batsman- but was picked on the basis of a 9/16 feat against Bangladesh U-19's, playing for an India U-19 side.
He should start taking more wickets for Baroda and take a cue from his brother- and score more runs- particularly in singles. If he starts scoring runs, that will keep other contenders such as RP Singh, Gagandeep and Amit Bhandari out of the way. Until then, the national call-up will have to wait. He's more useful as a swing bowler who can score runs rather than just as a swing bowler. He has age on his side.
The selectors have to look beyond the same five pace options. There are some bowlers who have been in fine wicket-taking form throughout the season- NP Singh, Gagandeep and RPS being the most successful. Delhi's Amit Bhandari is not only a consistent wicket-taker in India, but has also done well abroad. Mumbai's A'vishkar Salvi burst on the scene in 2002 and was running hot in the West Indies, but injuries took their toll and he's just a shadow of that bowler who took 10 wickets against a full-strength Jamaica side. Young quickies Abid Nabi and Vikram Singh can bowl fast, but need to play more matches and take more wickets. There's a brawny swing/seam bowler from Railways known as JP Yadav, who's also an attacking batsman, and has dominated the season- he needs a national call-up sooner than later. Performance for the A-team is also crucial. The forthcoming ODI series against SL should see some of them in action.
