Zip, zap, zoom! Indian cricket future looks fast and furious
Birmingham 1967. Bedi, Prasanna, Chandra and Venkat play in a Test. This would remain the only such instance in the illustrious career of India’s famed Spin Quartet. Skipper Pataudi throws the ball to wicketkeeper Budhi Kunderan to open the bowling since he has included no pacer in the XI.
In trying to set the field, he asks Kunderan what he would bowl. Kunderan famously replies: “We will find out soon, won’t we?” Fast forward 50-years to Johannesburg 2018.
Virat Kohli’s India go into the third Test match against South Africa at the Wanderers with no spinner and five pacers all capable of bowling at above 140 kph. In the sidelines is India’s fastest bowler, Umesh Yadav, with no more slots available in the XI.
The contrast speaks volumes about the path Indian cricket has traversed in the ensuing half-century. While spin continues to be an important part of the armoury, the flirtation with pace that Kapil Dev started has now become a full-blown romance. But this is only half the story – the storied past, the incidental present. For once in Indian sports, the other half – the future, looks bright.
THE FUTURE IS HERE
A new crop of pacers (and we are talking fast) is making waves on the domestic circuit and some have thrust themselves onto the world stage at the U-19 World Cup under Rahul Dravid.
Here is a short recap of each of these prospects who might well become household names in the months and years to come.
REMINDING AGARKAR
Nineteen-year-old Shivam Mavi is not built like a fast bowler, but he certainly acts like one. One is reminded of a certain Ajit Agarkar who had precisely those qualities, if not quite the pace. At 5’9’’ Mavi will barely reach Mitchell Starc’s shoulder when they team up to open the bowling for
KKR this IPL. But at 145kph, his deliveries will compare favourably with those that Starc bowls from the other end.
Combined with that will be Mavi’s smooth run up and action culminating in his natural aggression. One of the first words he uttered about his bowling to the media recently bears testimony to his pace’s mentality: “I once hit a batsman on the helmet and the guys who followed were really scared. I was enjoying it.”
FATHER’S DREAM
Currently making waves in New Zealand alongside Mavi is Kamlesh Nagarkoti. At 18, Nagarkoti is a year younger than his partner-in-crime, but perhaps more lethal in pace and accuracy. Against Australia at the U-19 WC, his fastest ball was clocked at 149kph.
He employed the special reverse-swing skills that coach Dravid insisted he learnt while Nagarkoti was in rehabilitation at the NCA for a shoulder tear.
The son of an army man who used his entire retirement kitty to buy a one-bedroom apartment in Jaipur so that his son could play cricket, Nagarkoti’s first pay cheque of ~3.2 crore from KKR in IPL 2018 should be enough to reward his father financially for keeping his faith in his son’s abilities.
BENGAL’S PRIDE
India one of her greatest captains, Sourav Ganguly. But despite a number of fast medium pacers trying to break into the big league, other than Mohammad Shami (who originally hails from Uttar Pradesh), Bengal has had little to show the country in terms of homegrown fast bowling talent. All that could change with the emergence of 19-year-old Ishan Porel.
At 6’3” Porel is more in the mould of a traditional fast bowler. Travelling several hours a day from his hometown of Chandernagore to Kolkata to play cricket, Porel is a ward of the Utpal Chatterjee Cricket Academy and benefited from the advice of Waqar Younis: “Whatever happens, don’t reduce pace. Swing will come,” he said.
MP TO PUNJAB
Our first left-arm fast bowler in this list, 18-year old Arshdeep Singh comes from Madhya Pradesh and plays for Punjab, bowls in the 140kph range and has been an important member of the U-19 World Cup squad in New Zealand.
He made his way into the Punjab team through sheer hard work, cycling 25 kilometres a day to and from practice, perhaps inadvertently helping strengthen his back and legs.
Singh’s show in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy where he was the second highest wicket-taker convinced Venkatesh Prasad and Rahul Dravid that this 6’2” pacer was worth investing in, particularly given India’s inability to find left arm pacers to replace Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan and RP Singh. Time will tell to what extent this young man justifies their faith. It is early days yet and he certainly provides hope for the future.