Pace attack has the power to propel this India team to greatness

[vayuu1]

India’s head coach Ravi Shastri can seem to carry himself like a very expensive present the world ought to be glad even to catch a glimpse of; self-doubt is not really his style. Yet when he declared India’s pace attack the finest in their history, there was no sense of hyperbole. 

In each five-year period in Test history - taking the first five years in each decade and then the last five - have collectively averaged at least 32.03, which was their figure from 1985-90. But since the start of 2015, Indian pace bowlers average just 28.62 for each wicket. 

In 86 years of Test cricket until 2018, India’s seamers had only twice taken all 20 wickets in a match. In Johannesburg in January, a five-man pace attack bowled India to a famous win on a spicy pitch. At Trent Bridge last week - shorn of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, man of the match in Johannesburg and the seamer whose style is most obviously suited to England - India’s pace bowlers once again bowled underpinned a magnificent win. They would have shared all 20 wickets once again too, only Ravichandran Ashwin swooped in to claim the very final wicket. But the fact remained: India’s seamers had outbowled England’s in English conditions - and nor was it any great surprise. Bowling England out for 245 on the first day of the Ageas Bowl, notwithstanding the lower order rally, was another mark of India's pace bowling excellence in these shores.

The strength of India's pace attack is not so much in individuals - none of their seamers are ranked in the top 20 bowlers in the world - as the collective. Their attack comprises only right-armers, and yet - from Jasprit Bumrah's whippy action to Ishant Sharma's height and full length and Mohammad Shami's unpredictable swing - each has disparate qualities. Together, they are unrelenting: five of the six quickest bowlers in this series have been India. 

A decade ago, India’s support for their main quicks generally comprised Sourav Ganguly’s very gentle swing; the sort that is ubiquitous in club games up and down England every weekend. Now they have Hardik Pandya: abrasive, quick and fresh from eviscerating England at Trent Bridge. If Alastair Cook's dismissal - an aberrant cut at a wide ball when England were languishing on 36-3 - was the most inexplicable of the day, it felt like a desperate search for a release. 

Jasprit Bumrah celebrates dismissing Stuart Broad CREDIT:GETTY IMAGES

With this Indian pace attack there seldom is one. It stands as an emblem of how Indian cricket, as the country and national sport alike have opened up to the world, has learned from the best of other nations. Young fast bowlers who emerge can benefit from sports science, and a fundamental understanding of fast bowling, that has been transformed from a generation ago.

One of the Indian Premier League’s greatest legacies has been to recalibrate the incentives for Indian fast bowlers. In the IPL, local fast bowlers are among the most coveted players of all - and, because they have traditionally been scarcer than formidable Indian batsmen and spinners, been rewarded; this year left-arm pace bowler Jaydev Unadkat was sold for 11.5 crore (£1.5 million). 

With its scouting networks and incentives to win, the IPL has also made it easier for pace bowlers to rise if they are good enough. “Before, there was a lot of regionalism in picking players,” says TA Sekhar, a former Indian fast bowler who was later chief coach of the MRF Pace Foundation. “Now it’s more transparent. If selectors see a bowler who’s bowling 140 [kilometres per hour] plus he’s picked for the state, then for the A team and the IPL and then the national team.”

Ravi Shastri declared his team's pace attack the finest in India's history CREDIT: AP

For embryonic fast bowling talent, the IPL also provides an unrivalled development opportunity. That much is evident watching Bumrah; he has honed his brilliant yorker through playing alongside Lasith Malinga for Mumbai Indians. While Malinga has honed Bumrah’s white-ball skills, he has learned the discipline needed to be a Test bowler through working extensively with Glenn McGrath at the MRF Pace Foundation. 

Many in India believe that, for the nation's pace attack, the best could be yet to come. Mohammed Siraj has been outstanding in A-team cricket; pace bowling underpinned India's triumph in the U-19 World Cup this year, with several bowlers approaching 90mph. 

Pace bowling has historically been the roadblock to India's Test teams achieving greatness. Now, the continued growth in pace bowling, augmenting the traditional strengths of batting and spin bowling, informs India's belief that they can assemble a team to win in all climes. 

 

[vayuu1]

Good thing people are starting to acknowledge our pacers, there was a time we use to have doda, kuruvilla, mahambre etc took a long time to reach this. 

[Suhaan]

Somehow we need to play Siraj and Saini to make it more potent, still feel we lack the intensity,Broad ,Ali, Anderson should have been peppered with bouncers yesterday but it wasnt done frequently....

But ,yes our pace attack has become our strength

Edited August 31, 2018 by Suhaan

[Tibarn]

Stat of the series so far

 

Quote

44.2- Strike rate of India fast bowlers in this series, is the best for any visiting team in a series in England in last 100 years. It is also the best striking rate for India pacers in any series outside Asia, excluding Zimbabwe.

 

Also this is interesting from here by Nagraj Gollapudi:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/24524919/crude-shrewd-indian-pace-evolution

Quote

How has this Indian pace attack shown such sharp progress? The biggest factor is their fitness. That is the biggest change in culture from the past. Being fit has allowed the bowlers to hit optimum speeds and allowed them to bowl long spells, as Bumrah showed this morning with eight good overs in his first stint. Being fit has helped bowlers to come back with fresh energy in each spell.

Ganguly said Kohli was holding players to unrealistic fitness standards  

 

Quote

Watching from the balcony, knees up, one man might have applauded the set-up - James Anderson. Never a bad thing to learn from the masters. The thing that Indians have learnt from Anderson is discipline. With every match they have probed the batsmen. They have become more assured. Gone are the days when MS Dhoni would direct traffic. Kohli might micro-manage the field, but the fast bowlers take care of the bowling plans. The numbers are proving them right.

 

Kohli is a tyrant who doesn't allow players to think on their own 

[rkt.india]

an we have at least three fast bowlers in the side lines, ready to break and it wont weaken our bowling even a bit.

[vayuu1]

33 minutes ago, rkt.india said:

an we have at least three fast bowlers in the side lines, ready to break and it wont weaken our bowling even a bit.

Yup saini,siraj,khaleel I would also add prasidh and mavi although in limited overs cricket, however saini siraj and khaleel brings different things 

Saini can swing it both ways at high speed, 

Siraj is more skiddy hits the bat hard he can swing it both ways too

Khaleel left armer bowls quick swings it too. 

[rkt.india]

39 minutes ago, vayuu1 said:

Yup saini,siraj,khaleel I would also add prasidh and mavi although in limited overs cricket, however saini siraj and khaleel brings different things 

Saini can swing it both ways at high speed, 

Siraj is more skiddy hits the bat hard he can swing it both ways too

Khaleel left armer bowls quick swings it too. 

No.  Saini, Siraj, Rajpoot are those three pacers ready for tests.

[diga]

7 hours ago, Tibarn said:

Stat of the series so far

A

No doubt our bowlers have been excellent so far

 

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?bowling_pacespin=1;class=1;filter=advanced;groupby=series;home_or_away=2;host=1;orderby=bowling_strike_rate;qualmin1=2;qualval1=matches;spanmin1=30+Aug+1918;spanval1=span;template=results;type=bowling

 

Dig that stat a liittle deeper and you will see that 4 of the 5 best strike rates have come in the last 3 years... Eng top order have been **** in general. 

 

 

[express bowling]

Indian fast bowlers, in test matches,  have transformed themselves as a group from the Sri Lanka series 2015

 

Performances of our pacers for this 3 year period.

 

Impressive  !

 

Mobile users please view on landscape mode.

 

 

Overall figures

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	5	10
B Kumar	2016-2018	9	17	239.1	73	629	34	5/33	8/96	18.50	2.62	42.2	2	0
JJ Bumrah	2018-2018	5	9	173.3	31	521	24	5/54	7/111	21.70	3.00	43.3	2	0
Mohammed Shami	2016-2018	22	41	594.1	117	1864	73	5/28	6/74	25.53	3.13	48.8	1	0
I Sharma	2015-2018	25	45	631.3	134	1806	64	5/51	8/86	28.21	2.85	59.2	2	0
HH Pandya	2017-2018	11	18	147.1	19	494	17	5/28	6/50	29.05	3.35	51.9	1	0
UT Yadav	2015-2018	26	52	654.0	132	2087	63	4/32	6/71	33.12	3.19	62.2	0	0

 

 

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?bowling_pacespin=1;class=1;filter=advanced;orderby=bowling_average;qualmin1=10;qualval1=wickets;spanmax2=31+Aug+2018;spanmin2=31+May+2015;spanval2=span;team=6;template=results;type=bowling

 

 

Performances away from home for the same period.

 

Still impressive !

 

 

Overall figures

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	5	10
B Kumar	2016-2018	4	7	108.4	39	262	16	5/33	6/46	16.37	2.41	40.7	1	0
JJ Bumrah	2018-2018	5	9	173.3	31	521	24	5/54	7/111	21.70	3.00	43.3	2	0
Mohammed Shami	2016-2018	14	25	339.0	64	1100	46	5/28	6/74	23.91	3.24	44.2	1	0
I Sharma	2015-2018	14	24	347.0	62	1059	42	5/51	8/86	25.21	3.05	49.5	2	0
HH Pandya	2017-2018	10	16	138.1	17	470	17	5/28	6/50	27.64	3.40	48.7	1	0
UT Yadav	2015-2018	9	18	193.1	39	703	19	4/41	5/75	37.00	3.63	61.0	0	0

 

 

 

 

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?bowling_pacespin=1;class=1;filter=advanced;home_or_away=2;orderby=bowling_average;qualmin1=10;qualval1=wickets;spanmax1=31+Aug+2018;spanmin1=31+May+2015;spanval1=span;team=6;template=results;type=bowling

Edited August 31, 2018 by express bowling

[chewy]

Whilst pace bowlers can continue.

Too many batsmen becoming dead weight, 

With the current shambolic batting unit, the pace bowlers will require escape velocity of Jupiter to propel India to greatness...:f e ck  you Pappu

Edited August 31, 2018 by chewy

[Vilander]

Need Bhuvi back for last test.. cant stand this guy Curran..

[Tibarn]

15 hours ago, diga said:

No doubt our bowlers have been excellent so far

 

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?bowling_pacespin=1;class=1;filter=advanced;groupby=series;home_or_away=2;host=1;orderby=bowling_strike_rate;qualmin1=2;qualval1=matches;spanmin1=30+Aug+1918;spanval1=span;template=results;type=bowling

 

Dig that stat a liittle deeper and you will see that 4 of the 5 best strike rates have come in the last 3 years... Eng top order have been **** in general. 

 

 

Without Cook performing, their top order is so brittle it seems