philcric Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 As the MRF Pace Foundation turns 30, here's the inside story of its transformative effect on Indian bowling http://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1118419/how-india-got-fast Quite an interesting read. @express bowling sandeep, express bowling, sourab10forever and 3 others 3 3 Link to comment
sandeep Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 Ravi Mammen, apparently one of the unsung heroes of Indian Cricket. And props to Dennis Lillee as well. He put in the time and work for years, before working for Indian Cricket got lucrative enough to attract foreigners purely based on $$. MCcricket and AuxiliA 2 Link to comment
express bowling Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 12 hours ago, philcric said: As the MRF Pace Foundation turns 30, here's the inside story of its transformative effect on Indian bowling http://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1118419/how-india-got-fast Quite an interesting read. @express bowling Very interesting read indeed ! Great find buddy. : ) Link to comment
Mosher Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 Interesting bit about Zaheer. "In 1997, Sekhar was confronted with a fresh challenge: to unearth a left-arm fast bowler. Lillee firmly believed that India needed a good one, but Sekhar's search was proving futile. He would go around the country scouting Under-19 quicks and mining information from local coaches. Most of the candidates recommended were medium-pacers. During an inter-zonal match, a youngster named Zaheer Khan, who like Srinath was studying to become an instrumentation engineer, walked up to Sekhar and said he wanted to train at the foundation. With Lillee due to arrive on January 18, Zaheer was asked to come to Chennai for trials. Zaheer was so consumed by excitement that he turned up on the morning of January 16. "When Lillee saw him bowl, he said, 'Shakes, this fellow will play for India.'" To Sekhar's surprise, though, Zaheer wasn't picked in the Mumbai Ranji side. He then asked Jaywant Lele of the Baroda Cricket Association if they would be interested in taking Zaheer. At the trial, Baroda's batsmen found Zaheer too quick to handle, and he was signed up. Zaheer duly accounted for five Mumbai batsmen in his second first-class game, and a year later made a sensational entry onto the international stage at the 2000 ICC Knockout in Kenya." sscomp32, express bowling and tweaker 1 2 Link to comment
vishalvirsingh Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 i liked the article....but i expected much more information about the names of trainees, which i could not get. express bowling 1 Link to comment
sandeep Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 9 hours ago, Mosher said: Interesting bit about Zaheer. "In 1997, Sekhar was confronted with a fresh challenge: to unearth a left-arm fast bowler. Lillee firmly believed that India needed a good one, but Sekhar's search was proving futile. He would go around the country scouting Under-19 quicks and mining information from local coaches. Most of the candidates recommended were medium-pacers. During an inter-zonal match, a youngster named Zaheer Khan, who like Srinath was studying to become an instrumentation engineer, walked up to Sekhar and said he wanted to train at the foundation. With Lillee due to arrive on January 18, Zaheer was asked to come to Chennai for trials. Zaheer was so consumed by excitement that he turned up on the morning of January 16. "When Lillee saw him bowl, he said, 'Shakes, this fellow will play for India.'" To Sekhar's surprise, though, Zaheer wasn't picked in the Mumbai Ranji side. He then asked Jaywant Lele of the Baroda Cricket Association if they would be interested in taking Zaheer. At the trial, Baroda's batsmen found Zaheer too quick to handle, and he was signed up. Zaheer duly accounted for five Mumbai batsmen in his second first-class game, and a year later made a sensational entry onto the international stage at the 2000 ICC Knockout in Kenya." I remember this - the Mumbai rejection early in his career stayed with Zaheer for quite a while. And I think the MCA also learnt a big lesson from it. Link to comment
Rightarmfast Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 1 hour ago, sandeep said: I remember this - the Mumbai rejection early in his career stayed with Zaheer for quite a while. And I think the MCA also learnt a big lesson from it. I remember Zaheer Khan took a fifer or something against Bihar/ Jharkhand just before making his debut. Mosher and express bowling 1 1 Link to comment
Laaloo Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 2 minutes ago, MultiB48 said: i remember a match when zak was 1st coming through between mumbai vs baroda ,zaheer was up against tendulkar and and i was eager to see how he bowled to sachin ,but i remember it was a guy called rakesh patel who bowled visually quite quickly to tendulkar and hurried him with many bouncers ,kind of got lost after that with injuries . Patel Link to comment
Mosher Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 (edited) 2 hours ago, sandeep said: I remember this - the Mumbai rejection early in his career stayed with Zaheer for quite a while. And I think the MCA also learnt a big lesson from it. If I remember correctly, Srinath too had a role in Zaheer getting selected for India. He was the one who recommended Zaheer's name to the selection committee. Edited September 5, 2017 by Mosher express bowling 1 Link to comment
AmreekanDesi Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 till 10 years ago we used to see same 'experts' calling MRF a white elephant what changed? Link to comment
sandeep Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 12 minutes ago, AmreekanDesi said: till 10 years ago we used to see same 'experts' calling MRF a white elephant what changed? The success of so many bowlers coming through MRF shut them up. Link to comment
putrevus Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 (edited) Great vision by one man who did something good for the fast bowlers. Edited September 5, 2017 by putrevus Link to comment
rkt.india Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 12 hours ago, MultiB48 said: i remember a match when zak was 1st coming through between mumbai vs baroda ,zaheer was up against tendulkar and and i was eager to see how he bowled to sachin ,but i remember it was a guy called rakesh patel who bowled visually quite quickly to tendulkar and hurried him with many bouncers ,kind of got lost after that with injuries . Rakesh Patel was quite quick. I remember he was bowling 140K in his 30s in ICL and ICL speed guns were unreliable, showing lower speeds for every international bowler like Shane Bond who was a part of it. Rakesh Patel was unfortunate to miss out on playing for India. He took 237 wickets in 67 FC matches for Baroda. Maybe because Zak who was from Baroda, selectors didn't pick due to quota pressures, otherwise, I still cannot fathom the reason why he missed out. Mosher and tweaker 2 Link to comment
Rightarmfast Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 Well, I am not aware of Rakesh Patel but I do remember that in his debut ODI series, Zaheer clocked 145k's more than once. He bowled 140+ upwards consistently. So, if Rakesh Patel was quicker than him, its surprising he never was spoken about. Link to comment
rkt.india Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 13 minutes ago, Rightarmfast said: Well, I am not aware of Rakesh Patel but I do remember that in his debut ODI series, Zaheer clocked 145k's more than once. He bowled 140+ upwards consistently. So, if Rakesh Patel was quicker than him, its surprising he never was spoken about. He was certainly spoken about. Was called up on 2007 English tour where our bowlers got sick and he was playing for a club in county. Link to comment
Rightarmfast Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 4 minutes ago, rkt.india said: He was certainly spoken about. Was called up on 2007 English tour where our bowlers got sick and he was playing for a club in county. I mean if he was quick in 2000 ( which I am sure he would have been, since all of you are mentioning ), then giving him a chance in 2007, when probably he would have lost the motivation and probably a few yards of pace is criminal. That's how you loose good players, and India has spoilt many a fast bowlers in the same fashion. express bowling 1 Link to comment
express bowling Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 2 hours ago, rkt.india said: Rakesh Patel was quite quick. I remember he was bowling 140K in his 30s in ICL and ICL speed guns were unreliable, showing lower speeds for every international bowler like Shane Bond who was a part of it. Rakesh Patel was unfortunate to miss out on playing for India. He took 237 wickets in 67 FC matches for Baroda. Maybe because Zak who was from Baroda, selectors didn't pick due to quota pressures, otherwise, I still cannot fathom the reason why he missed out. Rakesh Patel was a very international-type pace. Had a strong bowling action, bowled with effort and got the ball to fly through to the keeper. He had a very good out-swinger too and did not spray the ball. I don't know why he was never picked for India. tweaker and Rightarmfast 2 Link to comment
express bowling Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 12 minutes ago, MultiB48 said: he was picked for the odi leg of the 2003 nz tour, but didnt play as ind was preparing for wc Should have been played in actual matches. Link to comment
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