Indian bowling attack: A debutant's delight

England cricketer Alastair Cook removes his helmet as he celebrates after scoring his maiden century on his Test match debut

Are you a batsman who is eagerly waiting to score his maiden century in Test cricket? Are you a batsman who wants to make his mark in the international level? If the answers to the above questions are ‘yes’, then I am here to tell you how you could achieve it. It doesn’t involve any magic spell. It doesn’t involve any trick. It doesn’t involve any rigorous training programme. In fact, it is way simpler than you think. The following table might be able to help you.

Player	Runs(BF)	Team	Start date	Ground	Opposition
Aminul Islam	145(380)	Bangladesh	10 Nov 2000	Dhaka	India
Thilan Samarweera	103(175)	Sri Lanka	29 Aug 2001	Colombo(SSC)	India
Michael Clarke	151(248)	Australia	6 Oct 2004	Bangalore	India
Alastair Cook	104(243)	England	1 Mar 2006	Nagpur	India
Alviro Petersen	100(164)	South Africa	14 Feb 2010	Kolkata	India
Kane Williamson	131(299)	New Zealand	4 Nov 2010	Ahmedabad	India
Kirk Edwards	110(195)	West Indies	6 Jul 2011	Roseau	India
Jimmy Neesham	137(154)	New Zealand	14 Feb 2014	Wellington	India

Since the turn of the century, 8 debutants have scored a century against India, the most as compared to any other team. Australia, Sri Lanka and West Indies are next in line, against whom 5 debutants have been able to score centuries. Judging by the data, it is easy to say that debutants find a special liking towards Indian bowling. Of course, it could also be pointed out that, out of these 8 names, Thilan Samaraweera, Michael Clarke and Alastair Cook made a huge impact after their respective maiden centuries, so much so that they can now easily be considered as modern greats. Thus, it could be said that India were just a stepping stone towards their eventual greatness.

Not just the debutants

A batsman, no matter how talented he is, is bound to be feeling very nervous during his first Test match. After years of hard work in the domestic arena, he finally gets the opportunity to fulfil his lifelong dream of representing his country, and thus there is an added pressure of making it count. The opposition bowling attack is expected to cash on this pressure on the batsman. But, somehow, I feel that India lack the “killer instinct” to take advantage of it. At times, India seem tactless against young batsmen who are relatively unknown commodities. Of course, the credit goes to the batsmen for their display of skill and patience. But I have always wondered why it is India more often than any other team to be on the receiving end.

The lack of penetration in the case of Indian bowlers is also apparent in the case of batsmen who have played Test cricket earlier but are under pressure to make a mark and justifying their place in the team.

Player	Team	Opposition	Runs scored	Balls faced	Start Date	Ground
Alastair Campbell	Zimbabwe	India	102	186	25 Nov 2000	Nagpur
Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	India	105*	226	14 Aug 2001	Galle
Craig White	England	India	121	265	11 Dec 2001	Ahmedabad
Simon Katich	Australia	India	125	166	2 Jan 2004	Sydney
Andrew Hall	South Africa	India	163	454	20 Nov 2004	Kanpur
Kamran Akmal	Pakistan	India	109	154	8 Mar 2005	Mohali
Faisal Iqbal	Pakistan	India	139	220	29 Jan 2006	Karachi
Misbah-Ul-Haq	Pakistan	India	161*	351	30 Nov 2007	Kolkata
Jesse Ryder	New Zealand	India	102	162	18 Mar 2009	Hamilton
Mushfiqur Rahim	Bangladesh	India	101	114	17 Jan 2010	Chittagong
Tharanga Paranavitana	Sri Lanka	India	111	233	18 Jul 2010	Galle

The above table shows the players who scored their maiden Test centuries, against India, since 2000. An important thing to be noted is that most of these innings were played under the circumstances where India seemed to be on the front foot in the context of the match. Scoring a century in a situation where the opposition is clearly in front shows the temperament of these players. But, then again, it’s uncanny to see how often India are in the receiving end of such innings from time to time.

India have never been the best bowling attack in the world. A young batsman, who is relatively new to international cricket or still trying to make a mark, could be expected to be feeling the pressure of facing world class bowling attacks. Experts reckon that, no matter how well you do in domestic cricket, the level of an international bowling attack is a whole new ball game. Unfortunately Indian bowling attack, time and again, is made to look like an attack of an average domestic team, resulting in rookie players making the maximum out of it.