India pins hopes on speedsters

The five-man Indian pace attack picked for next month’s South Africa tour is one of the best to have toured that country, feels chairman of selectors MSK Prasad.

India will play three Tests, six One-Day Internationals and three T20 Internationals against South Africa, who possess one of the most potent pace attacks in the world. “I cannot comment on the opposition, but from our perspective we have one of the best bowling attacks to tour South Africa. There is variety in the attack, armed with the confidence of being the No. 1 side. We may have won at home, but going into the SA series on a winning note is a morale booster. We have a very balanced side,” Prasad said on Thursday.

Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah make up the pace quintet, with all-rounder Hardik Pandya as an extra option. It’s the maiden Test call-up for Bumrah and Prasad said the variety he brings to the table tilted the scales in his favour. “You see Umesh and Shami bowl at 140 kmph, but they still swing the ball. We also have Bhuvi who can swing the ball either way. We have included Bumrah as he has the variety. Ishant is there with his experience and Hardik adds that different dimension,” Prasad summed it up.

“So there are five different varieties of bowlers that we have picked.”

Ajinkya Rahane has scores of 1, 10, 2, 4 and 0 against lowly Sri Lanka in his last five Test innings but Prasad is unfazed by the vice-captain’s lean patch.