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Unrelenting bowling line-up offers India fresh edge


rkt.india

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The ball is sailing into the crowd, a white speck scurrying away from pure destruction. Glenn Maxwell is at the crease and his first two scoring shots are sixes, slog sweeps meant to question why the bowler thought it was a good idea to get out of bed in the morning.

 

At the other end stood Steven Smith, playing his 100th ODI, concentrating so hard. Perhaps he had found a way to channel his will not to get out and share it with his team-mates. Finally, all that fidgeting will start to make sense. The grabbing of the pad, the waving of the bat, the yanking of the helmet - they are simply the gestures that enact a magical spell.

 

It is at times like these that India's bowlers have come undone. And in Kolkata they didn't even have a proper score on the board.

"In modern-day cricket, 252 was not a big total to defend," Bhuvneshwar Kumar said. "But we knew if we had to win, we have to keep taking wickets. That's what we were talking about [in the change of innings] There was no bad mood, no one was upset when we got out for 250. All the captain and management wanted was to believe each other and believe in our abilities and that's what we did."

 

A sprinkle of rain just as the first innings ended and the zip that is on offer to the new ball under lights evened the scales further. And Bhuvneshwar tipped it right over. He had ambushed New Zealand in the dark here last season. Australia were next.

 

Shifting wide of the crease, he ran in to makeshift opener Hilton Cartwright. The bat came down, lacking conviction, betraying nerves. The ball clearly did not like what it saw and decided to shack up with the off stump instead.

Wickets such as these, while being spectacular on their own, happen only when there is pressure. Tangible, toxic and ever-present. India sometimes struggle to do that because they would give away soft overs; a few too many short balls, a few that head down the leg side.

At Eden Gardens, there were four wicket maidens, and one of them included a hat-trick.

 

Kuldeep Yadav at the ground he calls home in the IPL made the stadium bellow the loudest - in a game where Virat Kohli made 92 - when he bowled Matthew Wade, trapped Ashton Agar lbw and had Pat Cummins caught behind to hasten Australia's downfall. From 106 for 3, they were suddenly 148 for 8.

The 22-year-old left-arm wristspinner had been labelled hard to read by his opposition. But that advantage amounts to little if he isn't accurate. So he threatens the stumps as much as possible, and seems able to avoid pitching too many too short. That error tends to occur when a bowler is trying to rip it square, which in turn would mean Kuldeep is already becoming confident in his abilities; that he doesn't need to go out of his way to be a threat.

 

On Wednesday, he called out one of the most destructive batsmen of this era. But David Warner couldn't last long enough for that battle to even happen. On Thursday, he became only the second wristspinner in ODI history to claim a hat-trick. The last time an Indian took one, he wasn't even born.

There is another reason this Indian attack is exciting. In the past, there have been times when batting sides can block out the spearhead and win the match. But with a genuine swing bowler, a tearaway quick with an unusual action, two wristspinners and a hit-the-deck allrounder, they have most tools necessary to exploit helpful conditions.

 

Coming into the match, India had won after putting up 250 or less only 61 times in 196 tries. They might have made two runs more here but that record suggests they are not very good at defending scores in this range. They needed to do better than they have done before. And they knew they could the moment Bhuvneshwar let the first one rip.

Listen to him deconstructing the Warner dismissal: 1 off 9, nicked off to slip, no feet.

 

"I bowl outswingers to him, in Tests also I mostly bowl outswingers to him, so I knew there is a good chance I can get him out with outswingers. That's how I planned. And for Cartwright, there was a normal plan, bowling to the top of off stump and bowling outswingers to him."

 

Bhuvneshwar's opening spell read 6-2-9-2. He would later be asked to bowl one more ball. And it won India the match.

 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/20776813/unrelenting-bowling-line-offers-india-fresh-edge

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2 hours ago, Mosher said:

Tearaway quick in the article but classified as "Right-arm medium" in the player profile  :phehe: 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/625383.html

 

This classification is really looking ridiculous keeping in mind the high quality of this site.

 

Bumrah has  bowed lots of 144 k to 148 k balls this year ..... he must be the quickest " medium "  pacer  that has ever lived      :laugh:

 

Umesh being classified as " fast-medium "  is highly biased too.... as he has bowled loads of 140 k to 150 k spells in his life with a fastest of 152.5 k,

 

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/376116.html

 

 

Edited by express bowling
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21 minutes ago, CoverDrive said:

Who would have thought that 2-3 years back that it would be really tough for likes of Shami to get into Indian ODI XI while any consistent /talented batsman will find it easy to get into Indian middle order

Its a conundrum, tbh.  Need to bring in Shami in the team, somehow. Shami's inclusion can make this attack very good with BK, Bumrah and Shami 3 leading pacers.  Pandya does weaken the pace option and Shami is any day a better bowler but Pandya offers great batting ability. We need Pandya to bat in at 6 like Stokes does for England then we can get Shami in.

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11 minutes ago, the don said:

Most bowlers have touched 140 kph on their day . If Bumrah can consistently clock 90 he will get his due .He is already bowling slower than he was in yhe champions trophy.

 

The question being raised here is  --   how is Bumrah  " medium "  ?

 

Even on his slower days, he bowls 135 k to 142 k .... and that is   " fast-medium ".  

 

I can understand statisticians ignoring his rather frequent faster spells of 140 k to  145 k / 148 k .... but they must consider the speeds in his standard spells atleast.

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23 minutes ago, the don said:

Amir has clocked quicker speeds than all three. He has hit 150 kph on multiple occasions and is rightly listed as left arm fast.

 

25 minutes ago, the don said:

Most bowlers have touched 140 kph on their day . If Bumrah can consistently clock 90 he will get his due .He is already bowling slower than he was in yhe champions trophy.

 

Do you see the irony here? You are contradicting your own statement! Amir bowls in 130's.. Especially in tests. I am not sure when has Amir clocked quicker than all those 3!

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1 hour ago, rkt.india said:

Its a conundrum, tbh.  Need to bring in Shami in the team, somehow. Shami's inclusion can make this attack very good with BK, Bumrah and Shami 3 leading pacers.  Pandya does weaken the pace option and Shami is any day a better bowler but Pandya offers great batting ability. We need Pandya to bat in at 6 like Stokes does for England then we can get Shami in.

I feel long term we can think about 4 seamers and 1 spinner combination. have Bhuvi and Shami as genuine opening bowlers then have solid bowling from bumrah in middle and end overs with pandya chipping in. Play better form spinner between Chahal and Yadav. 

 

vary the mix based on opposition and conditions. include 2 spinners on drier pitches or sides less confident against spin. drop the less performing bowler on form. Shami would need breaks and we get in Kuldeep yadav as the attacking bowler so keep the steadier guys - bhuvi and bumrah in team 

 

If Shami can match up Bhuvi on death bowling then hey can compete and bhuvi can be rested when pitches are flatter and he maybe less effective. 

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54 minutes ago, putrevus said:

To term this attack as unrelenting might be too much.They have to include Shami or one more fast bowler into attack to make it more potent when travelling.For that to happen Pandya must become good enough to bat in top 6.Both Yadav and Chahal have yet play overseas.

agree too early to say right now. but promise is there. long time since we have defended reasonably lower scores

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9 minutes ago, CoverDrive said:

agree too early to say right now. but promise is there. long time since we have defended reasonably lower scores

Promise is there and I don't think they will exposed as they Ashwin and Jadeja have been in CT.But They need more pace.They need a genuine fast bowler.

Edited by putrevus
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