Is Sreenath Aravind the left-arm quick that India have been longing for?

S Aravind is the only left-arm quick in the T20 squad announced against the Proteas

What has been the biggest headache for Team India over the years. Is it the quality all rounder that is missing from the line-up; or is it the absence of a fast bowler who can prove to be a consistent performer, or is it the opening slot quandary?

Well, when you have got several world class names in your ranks competing for the opening positions, the captain might just have to put his brain to work a little bit more but that surely won’t give him sleepless nights. The lack of a quality all-rounder is definitely a problem that the think-tank needs to sort out but the situation is not that grave, especially when the likes of R Ashwin and Amit Mishra are contributing well with the bat and already adding that extra stability to the batting line-up with their presence.

Finally, it comes down to that all crucial fast bowling department, an area that continues to haunt the Men in Blue.

Problems in India’s fast bowling department

Indian team management is yet to address some serious problems pertaining to the fast bowling wing. While, there have never been a dearth of bowlers who you can put your money on to win matches on their own on their day; it is the inability of them to steady their performance which is of prime concern.

The facts that Indian Cricket Team had to field their bowling spearhead Mohammed Shami in the World Cup despite having the knowledge of his injury concerns and their mistake of over bowling their most disciplined seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has rendered him toothless, tells immensely about the issue.

Anyone with a decent understanding of the game will take cognizance of the fact that the bowlers who have earned the reputation of clocking 145+ kmph, have also gained the notoriety of being abysmally inconsistent to be given a chance ahead of their compeers who are generally more focussed on line and length. “Aggression can never substitute discipline, it can only aid it on occasions”, seems fitting in this case. In gross words, a Zaheer Khan-esque seamer would be an ideal find.

Current crop of Indian fast bowlers who are on fringes of national selection

Let us take a look at the list of bowlers in the current fray who can chip in. The list will include Pankaj Singh, Harshal Patel, Ishwar Pandey, Rishi Dhawan, Ashok Dinda, Sreenath Aravind and Shardul Thakur. If we compare these players on the basis of their domestic record, IPL performance and experience, S Arvind is the clear pick. There is something peculiar about the 31-year old which makes him stand-out in the list, above. Noticed it? He is a left-arm quick while all others are right handed.

Some may argue if it is necessary to be left handed to be a replacement for Zaheer Khan. No, it’s not. In fact, it will take a lot of doing to be a replacement for him, not to mention the grit and determination that is a pre-requiste. That said, left-arm pacers do have an edge over the right handed ones. They create awkward angles; both natural and manoeuvered angles. Most of them have that one delivery in their armoury that comes back in to the right-handed batsmen. Though these deliveries may not fetch you wickets every time, they surely do cause a lot of troubles for the batters.

The Karnataka medium-fast bowler does impress. even as we consider current form. You don’t get a call-up to the Indian cricket team for nothing. He has made a strong case for himself, that’s why he has been picked in the T-20 squad announced yesterday.

The final verdict: We need to watch the India-South Africa T-20 Series to realise if it is in the RCB Player to make it to the India ODI squad. Till then, we reserve our opinion. Though it would be too early to jump to the conclusion that S Aravind is the perfect man India was looking for, it is only fair that we call it as a sensible decision made by the selectors.