'Fast' bowlers turning extinct in India

[CG]

So, whatÃÔ in fashion this cricket season? It isnÃÕ a particular brand and its gear, neither sporting a tattoo, nor a flashy hair styleÃÃur generation next cricketers have moved beyond such fads. The in-thing that I talk of is, bizarrely, a whole new understanding of the game, a version which is difficult to make sense of by old-school boys like me. WhatÃÔ alarming is that most seem to be swearing by this new, warped philosophy. So what does it sayÃØell, 1) that pace is an ÃÃverrated virtue? and 2) that genuine fast bowlers are silly to invest time and energy in honing this skill. Educating me on the subject of ÃÃeo-cricketism has been a fast bowler, in his late teens, with the ability to generate great pace for his age. This kid regularly made the batsmen, even the much senior batsmen, jump and hop. In fact, on first seeing him, and having been thoroughly impressed, IÃÅ marked him as ÃÃne for the future? The kid went on to play first-class cricket in India and I kept hearing good things about him. Well, my last rendezvous gave me an opportunity to know him closely and decipher the workings of many young minds like him even better, not particularly to my pleasure though. For starters, heÃÔ no longer obsessed with pace; in fact heÃÔ lost a lot of it, voluntarily. Å·oluntarily?ÃØho in his right mind would want to do that. WasnÃÕ it supposed to be one of the most potent weapons in a fast bowlerÃÔ armory? I snapped like a nagging parent! To that the kid, with an I-know-it-all look, informed me, Å©ave you had a look at the surfaces on which we play our cricket in India? CÃÎon, you were there for the Ranji final last year, werenÃÕ you? Almost every bouncer bowled reached the wicketkeeper, who was standing no further than 10 yards from the batsman, in two bounces. Bowling quick is no longer a boon, but a bane! Alarmed by such talk, I still persisted, ŵhat was just one game. Not all the games are played on such surfaces. IÃ×e heard that the BCCI has given directives to most curators around the country to make greenish pitches. Moreover, thereÃÔ an apparent dearth of bowlers who can bowl fast, and hence they are priceless. India reveres good bowlers! Not in a mood to back down, like most kids of his age, he continued, Å©ow many endorsements did Zaheer Khan get after his sterling efforts to win the World Cup for India in 2011? WasnÃÕ his performance at par with many others in the team? The batsmen who didnÃÕ even play all the games in the World Cup are seen in adverts more often. To say that we revere fast bowlers is false. I decided it was time to use the IPL card, for it was a sure shot way to lure this boy to change his mind. ŵhereÃÔ the IPL and we donÃÕ have many Indian fast bowlers. We all know that in T20 cricket bowlers are worth their weight in gold. Anyone who can bowl four economical overs regularly is worth a lot more than the ones who can score at a strike-rate of 150. This was bound to work, I thought secretly. Alas! Ťheck your figures? he said with a smirk. Ŧven the best bowlers in the IPL, the likes of Lasith Malinga and Dale Steyn are worth no more than a million, but even some second rate batsmen are taking home close to 2 million. This one had just backfired badly! Time for a role reversal, for getting angry wasnÃÕ helping, and both logic and lure had also given up the quest. So, this time like a patient parent, I started all over again, űoint taken but it isnÃÕ always about the money, son. Since there are many good batsmen around, the easiest and the quickest way to play for India is to bowl fast. If youÃÓe able to do that, selectors will surely fast track your progress and youÃÃl be an India player in no time. You just need to clock 145 consistently (as if clocking 145 is a joke, but I needed to sound convincing). He smilingly, as if looking through my naý×e tactics, replied, źou donÃÕ have to bowl fast to play for India anymore; in fact I heard the (former) chairman of selectors Kris Srikkanth, while explaining the non-inclusion of Umesh Yadav, say that speed is an ÃÃverrated virtue? But before you point out Umesh and [Varun] Aaron, let me remind you how unreasonable and cruel it is for people to expect bowlers in India to bowl fast. Even if you prepare good pitches on which the ball carries nicely to the keeper, would it take away from the fact that a bowler is expected to bowl 50 overs in a week? There are only three days between two first-class games, and if I want to feature in all of them (I should if I want to get enough wickets to get noticed), it is imperative for me to cut down on pace. If I want to bowl at 100% every time I bowl without cutting down on the number of overs and matches, IÃÃl get injured. Most bowlers in the country have mastered the art of bowling effectively at 70%. Moreover the SG Test ball we use in the Indian domestic circuit is more rewarding to the bowlers who, instead of hitting the deck hard, release the ball. Suddenly, it felt like I was making a case for fast bowlers in vain. In the ideal world, I wouldÃ×e wanted him to never give up pace. But he was probably right. Today it is more about being a ÃÔmart bowler than a mere ÃÇast bowlerÃÔuch are the changed dynamics of ÃÃeo-cricket in India. The boy is now looking to work on his batting, and perfect the yorkers and slower-ones. These currencies are worth a lot more in the IPL market than the ability to just bowl fast, he updates me. This fad among the fast bowlers isnÃÕ a fad after all, I am afraid. ItÃÔ a risky philosophy to develop, a larger debate between ÃØhatÃÔ good for the player and ÃØhatÃÔ good for the game? And thatÃÔ a precarious one to handle. Even more precarious for Indian cricket.

http://blogs.espncricinfo.com/beyondtheblues/archives/2012/12/fast_bowlers_turning_extinct_i.php Good read.

[Gunner]

Who's he talking about, any guesses?

[JaFanatic]

are we playing more fc matches than other countries?

[rkt.india]

are we playing more fc matches than other countries?

No. But we have congested calender with too man useless tournaments in it likes of CL T10, challenger, Mushtaq Ali trophy, Devdhar trophy etc.

[rkt.india]

Yes Aakash we all yearn for the old days when our domestic scene was overrun and dominated by fearsome fast men. I particularly recall the lightning Venkatesh ("middling shade of brown lightning") bully the batsmen on those hard and grassy turfs that were customary then. So spoilt were we back then that prospects such as Dodda G' date=' Harvinder S and David J barely got a chance to exhibit their pace and nous internationally. That breed has certainly gone extinct. And I am glad.[/quote'] :giggle:

[JaFanatic]

lol

[panther]

They were never in existence.

[Gunner]

They were never in existent.

Looks like they've gone extinct in Pakistan too.

[Trichromatic]

Looks like they've gone extinct in Pakistan too.

Thread is about Indian fast bowlers.

[vvvslaxman]

Yes Aakash we all yearn for the old days when our domestic scene was overrun and dominated by fearsome fast men. I particularly recall the lightning Venkatesh ("middling shade of brown lightning") bully the batsmen on those hard and grassy turfs that were customary then. So spoilt were we back then that prospects such as Dodda G' date=' Harvinder S and David J barely got a chance to exhibit their pace and nous internationally. That breed has certainly gone extinct. And I am glad.[/quote'] :hysterical::hysterical:

[Number]

Yes Aakash we all yearn for the old days when our domestic scene was overrun and dominated by fearsome fast men. I particularly recall the lightning Venkatesh ("middling shade of brown lightning") bully the batsmen on those hard and grassy turfs that were customary then. So spoilt were we back then that prospects such as Dodda G' date=' Harvinder S and David J barely got a chance to exhibit their pace and nous internationally. That breed has certainly gone extinct. And I am glad.[/quote'] :haha:

[indiaregulator]

This is really what confuses me about FC cricket. There are two things of note. 1) England's deficiency against spin. 2) India's lack of any sort of fast bowling. Why don't CC regulate that some counties create absolute bunsens whilst in India the BCCI orders some FC teams create absolute greentops? Surely this will in the long term eliminate any problems? In the 70's and 80's England had players like Gooch, Gatting, Gower, Boycott etc who were masterful players of spin. This was because CC at that time had all sorts of pitches, from green mambas to absolute bunsens. Why do they not do that anymore?

[CG]

This is really what confuses me about FC cricket. There are two things of note. 1) England's deficiency against spin. 2) India's lack of any sort of fast bowling. Why don't CC regulate that some counties create absolute bunsens whilst in India the BCCI orders some FC teams create absolute greentops? Surely this will in the long term eliminate any problems? In the 70's and 80's England had players like Gooch, Gatting, Gower, Boycott etc who were masterful players of spin. This was because CC at that time had all sorts of pitches, from green mambas to absolute bunsens. Why do they not do that anymore?

Its not that simple.We do have some greentops in Domestic Cricket .Its more to do with Rolemodels and Style of play,Allthough it is changing .We never have had so many good Fast bowling talents as we had in last few years.

[King Tendulkar]

Ironically this is probably our best ever era for fast bolwers:hysterical:

[rkt.india]

Its not that simple.We do have some greentops in Domestic Cricket .Its more to do with Rolemodels and Style of play' date='Allthough it is changing .We never have had so many good Fast bowling talents as we had in last few years.[/quote'] Agree. We have more young fast bowlers coming up now. We have few of the quickest bowlers now. More young boys are taking up fast bowling and not spin that is why you hardly see any good spiner in any state team because spin bowling is not attracting young boys but fast bowling. Most teams part exception have young fast bowlers coming up.

[maniac]

This is really what confuses me about FC cricket. There are two things of note. 1) England's deficiency against spin. 2) India's lack of any sort of fast bowling. Why don't CC regulate that some counties create absolute bunsens whilst in India the BCCI orders some FC teams create absolute greentops? Surely this will in the long term eliminate any problems? In the 70's and 80's England had players like Gooch, Gatting, Gower, Boycott etc who were masterful players of spin. This was because CC at that time had all sorts of pitches, from green mambas to absolute bunsens. Why do they not do that anymore?

Dude first let me ask you this...before Finn,name one out and out fast bowler England have produced in the last 10 years. India has had some really quick bowlers but once they establish themselves,they have to cut down on their pace to increase their careers given the work load Indian cricket team has in general. Going back to Finn....he has been managed very well by the team management but let him play all 3 formats,IPL,CL etc continuously and lets see if he can maintain the same pace. Look at Broad for eg; he has the ability to bowl pretty fast and looked like he added some pace when he came back fresh, but now look at his pace. It is not the issue of not having fast bowlers,it is the issue of not having decent management to handle them.

[Trichromatic]

Dude first let me ask you this...before Finn,name one out and out fast bowler England have produced in the last 10 years.

Harmison, Flintoff. Harmison was fastest bowler for England during last decade. Not express pace, but they could hit 90 mph. You can say that even that even Indian bowlers could do that, but Zaheer, Munaf were mostly fast medium and not fast like Freddy and Harmison.

[Lurker]

Aakash Chopra missed a good chance here I think. This could have made for a stellar article but somehow he went the wrong direction, me thinks. His example on Zaheer Khan is fantastic. After the WC 2011 success where Zaheer Khan performed tremendously what really did he gain?? If you are in an average Indian town today, say New Delhi, I bet you will see more posters of a Suresh Raina than a Zaheer Khan. The former is a LOI specialist, the latter one of the greatest fast bowlers we produced. If Indian fans, advertising media, sports channels keep recommending Raina and Jadeja and Rohit Sharma over a Zaheer Khan, no wonder we get royally screwed by every country. During Durga Puja time in Gurgaon this year I was shocked to see seperate sections in local newspaper advertising "exclusive" apartments for uber rich. One of the selling point was cricket academy by Suresh Raina. I am not sure what shocked me more, exclusive apartments for rich in India (how is that not discrimination?) OR the fact that Raina can open a cricket academy :giggle:

[maniac]

Harmison' date=' Flintoff. Harmison was fastest bowler for England during last decade. Not express pace, but they could hit 90 mph. You can say that even that even Indian bowlers could do that, but Zaheer, Munaf were mostly fast medium and not fast like Freddy and Harmison.[/quote'] Firstly I brought my point up to regulator to show that we lose fast bowlers due to lack of good management but the myth seems to be that we never produce fast bowlers which is totally wrong. I would have to disagree on Flintoff here...He did have a couple of Spells where he was quick and almost unplayable but he wasn't what you consider RF for most of his career. I would put Zak and Flintoff in the same cateogory in terms of consistency with respect to pace generated.

[Trichromatic]

Firstly I brought my point up to regulator to show that we lose fast bowlers due to lack of good management but the myth seems to be that we never produce fast bowlers which is totally wrong. I would have to disagree on Flintoff here...He did have a couple of Spells where he was quick and almost unplayable but he wasn't what you consider RF for most of his career. I would put Zak and Flintoff in the same cateogory in terms of consistency with respect to pace generated.

What Zak has lost pace since his comeback and most of the time he bowls around 80-84 mph. Flintoff didn't lose pace like Zak did. He could hit 140 kmph consistently during most part of his career. Flintoff is considered RF and not RFM. It's not a myth considering that Yadav is our first genuine fast bowler.