Frustrated with India's overseas performances - An open letter to the BCCI

Problems with the short ball

Dear Mr. N. Srinivasan

India has been a proud cricketing nation for a very long time. Cricket is a part and parcel of daily life of most Indians. Cricket connects emotionally to Indians in a way that no other field of life has done-, in the 66 years of our independence. So, at this moment, let us look back at our cricket history and how well we have done, and areas that need improvement.

If you look at the great players we have produced over the years, all of them are either great batsmen or great spinners. Our batting has been adorned by the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Gundappa Viswanath, Kris Srikkanth, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and many other great batsmen over the years.

If you look at the spin bowling front too, we have been gifted with many great spinners coming from Indian shores. The 70s saw the famed quartet of Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalii Prasanna, BS Chandrashekhar and S Venkatraghavan. The 90s saw the rise of our greatest spin bowler in Anil Kumble. After that, Harbhajan Singh, and now R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha have done creditably in the spin bowling department.

However, when you look at our fast bowling history, it leaves a lot to be desired. We have never produced a genuine fast bowler who has consistently won Test matches for India. Though Kapil Dev in the 1980s tried, he too was a medium pacer and wasn’t that big a factor in Test matches. Javagal Srinath came in the 90s, but he lacked the control and often bowled a shorter length, which prevented him from becoming a match winner.

Afterwards, Zaheer Khan came in the 2000s, followed by the promising starts of many young quicks like Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel and others, who faded away faster than they arrived. Many of these bowlers started quick, consistently bowling in the 145+ kmph range, but slowly their speeds decreased considerably and they were reduced to medium pacers, bowling at 130 kmph. Notable examples are Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma.

Lack of proper guidance, faulty bowling techniques learned at a young age and improper diet can be amongst the multiple issues causing these failures. I ask the board why such mishaps are happening again and again. Don’t you feel that for a country of 1 billion people to not have produced one genuine great fast bowler in 66 years of Independence is a matter of great shame and misery? Can you tell me why this is the case?

Our limited overs and Test records depict clearly the repercussions. In the limited overs arena, we have done creditably well with five world trophies won, which include two ODI World Cups, a T-20 World Cup and two Champions Trophy titles. Overall, we are only behind Australia here, who have six world titles to their name. This is followed by West Indies with four, Sri Lanka and Pakistan with two each, and England, New Zealand and South Africa with one each.

While we are second from top in the limited overs picture, if you look at the Test picture, it’s a completely different story. In the Test arena, we are placed seventh amongst the top eight teams in terms of an overall Win/Loss ratio in test matches, i.e. second from bottom. India ranks seventh with a ratio of 0.81, only ahead of New Zealand amongst the top cricket nations. Australia are number one with a Win/Loss of 1.75.

The reasons are quite simple to understand. In limited overs cricket, it is the batsmen that win you matches, while in Test cricket, fast bowling is the biggest determinant of the fortunes of any cricketing nation. That’s why India has such an average record in the Test match arena. It is the fast bowlers and genuine pacers that win you Test matches-, more than anything else. If you cannot take 20 wickets, you cannot win a Test match.

It is hard to understand as to why the BCCI, the richest cricket body in the world, cannot provide for good coaches to promote fast bowling in India from the grass roots levels. Fast bowling, like batting or spin bowling is an art, and given the right coaching from a young age, along with the correct diet, physical exercises and training can help in producing good fast bowlers for the country.

All it needs from your side is investment in the best coaches to teach kids who are just starting to play the game. Changes have to be made there to make an impact in future. And you need to invest in pitches conducive to fast bowling. Green seamers, fast bouncy tracks whet the appetite of fast bowlers no ends. If you cannot prepare such pitches at home, you can get drop in pitches from outside on which our young bowlers can practice.

You owe the country an explanation as to why despite all the riches, you haven’t been able to put these things in place. Why is that you have failed to address this in so many years? It’s high time that Indian cricket loving public got their due, and that would mean having fast bowlers who win India Test matches and series in countries like South Africa and Australia, where we have never won a Test series.

Hiring a fast bowling expert like Ian Pont from England can be a big first step in this direction. Ian Pont is one of the most accomplished fast bowling coaches in the modern era. He has simplified the technical aspects of pace bowling, which are vital for improving accuracy and speed. The skill acquisition drills (known as ABSAT – Advanced Biomechanics Speed & Accuracy Technique) used by Pont have been designed to teach a player how to isolate problems, correct them and then include them in their game – much in the way coaches focus on the technical aspects of batting.

Early on in his coaching career he chose to specialise in pace bowling and it is his work of coaching speed into bowlers whilst improving accuracy that is hailed a breakthrough for developing long-term bowling attacks. His first book “The Fast Bowler’s Bible” is used by coaches and players at all levels all over the world as a blueprint. His latest publication Ultimate Pace Secrets reveals how speed is generated.

It’s about time that your esteemed selves take action on this front. Otherwise our Test performances abroad will continue to remain pathetic and the public deserves better than that. If we can fix this problem, we might see a period of domination by India on the cricket field also, apart from the administration, where BCCI is ruling the roost now. You, as the president of the BCCI, need to implement these positive changes for the betterment of our cricket.