India bank on pace depth for turnaround in South Africa
KEY WEAPON The rise of a potent bowling attack gives India confidence
CAPE TOWN: An inevitability of boasting a quality bowling lineup is that you don’t see the same faces across all formats. India, by virtue of the Indian Premier League, have arrived at a stage where Yuzvendra Chahal and Jasprit Bumrah spearhead the spin and pace bowling departments in T20Is and even in ODIs at times.
That allows Virat Kohli the luxury to we ave his Test strategy around the specialists. In the pace department, Mo hammed Sh a mi, U mesh Ya dav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar seem top picks so far. With these am conditions on offer not just in South Africa, but also in England, India’s chances of victory hinge largely on how this trio bowls in the two countries.
Shami’s ability to crank up pace and the recent acquisition of a mean bouncer makes him an all-round threat. Virat’s thirst for raw pace has been sufficiently quenched by U mesh Ya dav while Bhuvneshwar rounds it up with impeccable control and just the right amount of swing makes his medium pace unplayable at times.
Though not pronounced, India are slowly progressing towards having different cores for different formats. Take for example Sham i’ s case. Over four years, he has played 50 OD Is, three of them coming in the two years since the 2015 World Cup. Shami’s dodgy knees make him susceptible to reaggravated injury, which explains to a great extent why he has hardly played any match --barring Tests --- in India where the outfields are harder compared to England or South Africa.
Armed with a great outswinger, U mesh gives the edge in terms of pace but a few niggles have kept him in rehab at the National Cricket Academy recently. Vidarbha coach and Umesh’s long-time mentor Subroto Banerjee however said that he is completely fit and should get more opportunity to bowl. “At this age, he should bowl as much as possible. What is the point in playing just seven or eight Tests per year when he is clearly fit to play more?,” Banerjee, a former India pacer, told Hindustan Times just before the start of the Ranji Trophy final in Indore.
“U mesh has become more disciplined. Playing the Ranji Trophy was away to stay in match practice but all along the way he was working with me on getting the lengths right for the South Africa series. He understands its importance,” said Banerjee.
Bhuvneshwar’s selection often hinges on the conditions but he vindicates it every time he is picked. Like in the Kolkata Test against Sri Lanka where the trio bowled together for only the second time ever. Together, they accounted for all the seven wickets taken by India in a thrilling draw on a spicy pitch, with Bhuvneshwar being the pick of the bowlers with eight wickets in the match. Victories at the Lord’s (2014) and St Lucia (2016) too wouldn’t have been possible without him.
U mesh and Bhuvneshwar are yet to play in South Africa but there are enough indications that they can hunt in packs. They might possess different skill sets but Bhuvneshwar said they were always learning from each other. “If I pick something from U mesh or Ishant or Shami, that’s reverse swing while they can pick swing from me. So that definitely helps us to prepare better,” said Bhuvneshwar on Sunday.