Why India needs to manage its quicks properly

There have been recent positive signs with regard to India's pace bowling department

More often than not,an out and out fast bowler and the Indian team don't go hand in hand with each other. Don’t get me wrong. India has produced the likes of Kapil Dev, Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath. How many of them ended their careers as genuine quicks though is a subject of debate.

In India, young fast bowlers start off by bowling quick and they get picked up for their genuine pace.Time and time again, as a young pacer graduates to higher levels in cricket, he loses out on his pace to improve on his accuracy and swing.

Why fast bowlers are essential and the need to develop a fast bowling culture

“To win a test match,the team needs to pick up 20 wickets.”Ever since Virat Kohli took over captaincy he has emphasised on the need for backing bowlers to win matches.The Indian test team has been tremendous of late.They’ve won a series against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka and have defeated the mighty Proteas in India.

It took phenomenal bowling efforts to win both series.Ravichandran Ashwin’s dream run ensured India had the upper hand in both series and the fast bowlers were not needed to bowl for most part of the matches.The last remaining quality spinners in the country will enable India to win at home. But to be a great team, the Indian Team needs to start winning in overseas conditions.

While Ravichandran Ashwin seems to have evolved into a spinner capable of winning matches in all conditions, he is yet to prove himself in overseas conditions. Besides,it is useless to rely on one spinner to take wickets in overseas conditions. India needs quality fast bowlers to pick up wickets in the bouncy wickets of Australia,the swinging conditions in England and New Zealand.

With proper guidance,the current lot of fast bowlers in the fray to play for India might be able to bowl India to overseas victories. Even in subcontinental conditions, the fast bowlers are crucial to pick up wickets with the art of reverse swing. But,to consistently be a quality side overseas India needs to keep producing fast bowlers.Like its rich tradition and culture of spin bowling, India needs to develop a fast bowling culture over a period of time.The likes of Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan have already laid the foundation for such a culture.

Problems for young Indian pacers

One of the reasons for India not producing fast bowlers is the lack of a proper support system for the quicks at the grassroots level. The fact that India has not produced many great fast bowlers has resulted in an increased emphasis on people taking up to medium pace or spin bowling.

Eighteen or Nineteen is the age when a player gets to know more about his body and his muscles start developing. At this time in a player's career,there needs to be someone to instruct him about managing workload.In countries like Australia,South Africa etc., they have a good fast bowling culture which ensures the availability of this knowledge to the players.

In India though, the knowledge isn’t available to players from all backgrounds and eventually they end up with an injury like a stress fracture. Sometimes the injury is serious enough to end their careers, while most of the times these injuries further encourage them to slow down.While Indian quicks are trained at the MRF Pace Academy,not all the young budding fast bowlers avail this facility.

From an Indian fans point of view, it has been pleasing to see the likes of Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron not compromise on pace.It would be great to see either one of them along with Ishant and Shami carry on from where Zaheer Khan left.There is a need to back fast bowlers and give them confidence.

Will they start to perform consistently?

The Need for the Captain’s trust

Any player in the team requires a captain’s trust and backing. A fast bowler is no different. While Umesh had been picked in the squad and backed, he earlier lacked proper control. He was leaking runs and not helping the team’s cause. It caused the captain(M.S.Dhoni) to lament the team's lack of a quality fast bowler. The same has been the case with Varun Aaron.

M.S.Dhoni’s lack of trust in his pacers is well known. Dhoni has preferred medium pacers who give him more control over the game over his genuine fast bowlers. His lack of trust is well justified by their career economy rates in limited overs cricket. Till date Umesh Yadav has picked 72 wickets in 52 ODI’s at an economy rate of 5.84 which is quite unjustifiable even in this age of T20 cricket.

It is difficult for a fast bowler to accurately land the ball in a spot. The great fast bowlers of the modern era like Dale Steyn, Mitchell Johnson, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and countless other legends became great because of their ability to bowl the exact sequence of deliveries to set a batsman up. The more they bowl,the more it helps them grow.And what practise is better than match practise? Over the period of time Umesh Yadav has shown considerable improvement.

The fast bowlers stepped up in the 2015 Cricket World cup as Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma and Mohammad Shami were crucial for India qualifying for the semi finals. It was pleasing to see Indian fast bowlers take wickets at regular intervals.But they didn’t perform well before and after the World Cup.This lack of consistency doesn’t generate enough confidence from any captain. Still,it has been pleasing to see Virat Kohli back his pacers unflinchingly. Even when they’ve gone for runs,he has backed them up to pick wickets.

Taking Cue from other countries

Former fast bowlers are made to handle preparation camps for fast bowlers in Pakistan. Wasim Akram was made to conduct a fast bowling camp for a select group of fast bowlers who were in the fray of national selection.These interactions with former players enables exchange of knowledge.Interacting with someone who has gone through the rigours of domestic cricket in the same country helps out the individuals even more.

Countries like Australia.England and South Africa have spin bowling consultants.These consultants not only interact with players of the national team but also organise camps for the top spin bowlers in the country.Spin bowling legends Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan have also organised camps for top spinners in Australia in recent years.

It’s no secret that Zaheer Khan mentored the likes of Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami during his time with the Indian Team. Ishant Sharma has acknowledged the immense support and guidance of Zaheer Khan in his career.

The BCCI could rope in Zaheer Khan in a similar consultant role and organise fast bowling camps across the country. The recently retired Zaheer Khan also has the experience of bowling in all three formats of the game.Zaheer Khan as a fast bowling consultant would be able to guide the next generation of fast bowlers in the country.

Can Zaheer be roped in to mentor young fast bowlers?

Positive Signs

The rise and emergence of Mohammad Shami as a quality fast bowler selected in the ICC ODI Team of the year has only served as a motivation for young fast bowlers in the country.The faith shown by the team management in Ishant Sharma seems to finally start paying rich dividends as Ishant has started to consistently contribute positively to the teams performances.

Umesh Yadav’s figures in the final innings of the Freedom Trophy test series read 21-16-9-3.What was exciting to see was not only did Umesh bowl with control but utilised reverse swing to outclass the batsman. After the de Villiers Amla resistance had ended,Umesh quickly snapped up three wickets to set up yet another Indian victory.

Performances like these over the year has given the team management and the captain some hope. If the fast bowlers are properly taken care of and backed, India might begin to have a stronger bowling unit from now on.