Is India's bowling really that bad?

[Vijay.Sharma]

If we believe the popular opinion in the world of cricket India seems to be having the worst bowlers among the top Test nations and yet India is number 1. OK, in ODI cricket the argument can be made that with a half decent bowling unit also a team can win if it has a solid batting line up. Batting line-ups don't get any more awesome than the current Indian one so yeah our bowlers are "protected" by our batsmen. But to win a Test match you'd need to take 20 wickets at least 8 out of 10 times. How is our bowling unit managing it? Clearly, apart from Zak our bowlers are useless...Bhajji is way too defensive, Munaf and RP dont play Test cricket anymore, Sreesanth performs once in 10 innings, Ishant used to perform once in 10 innings, Ojha is not world class, Mishy gives way too many runs thereby easing the pressure built by Bhajji from the other end. There's a theory that India play more at Home (in the sub-continent) and hence win more...now I dunno what's the truth value of that statement but ever since this team started its journey after Chappell left us in peace, I recall we have done a tour of every Test playing nation except Pak and WI. But even if our record is not viewed as Home-Away (as is done for everyone else) and is viewed as Sub-continent-Away, we have played in all "Away" countries except WI. Besides aren't sub continent pitches supposed to be flat tracks? Thoughts...

[Rana]

Munaf Patel and Zaheer Khan are very good.

[Ultimate_Game]

Zaheer, Munaf, Harbhajan and Ashwin are pretty decent. And if supported by good performances by other bowlers such as Nehra/Sreesanth/Yuvraj etc. and decent fielding this bowling is actually better than most teams.

[Bradman99]

It can't be that bad if you have been number 1 in the world for over a year and are the current ODI champs.. However it is quite clear to all that batting is India's strength..

[satyam1729]

Bowling last 4 years. http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;groupby=team;opposition=1;opposition=2;opposition=25;opposition=3;opposition=4;opposition=5;opposition=6;opposition=7;opposition=8;orderby=bowling_average;spanmin1=15+Mar+2007;spanval1=span;template=results;type=bowling

[Ultimate_Game]

It can't be that bad if you have been number 1 in the world for over a year and are the current ODI champs.. However it is quite clear to all that batting is India's strength..

That may be so but IMO Indian bowling get a pretty raw deal as it has to live in the shadow of India's batting. I mean look at all the recent series against Aus, SA, Eng etc. and you will see that Indin bowlers performed pretty well and in fact outbowled their opponents. So they can't really be that bad no matter how strong India's batting is.

[Bradman99]

That may be so but IMO Indian bowling get a pretty raw deal as it has to live in the shadow of India's batting. I mean look at all the recent series against Aus' date=' SA, Eng etc. and you will see that Indin bowlers performed pretty well and in fact outbowled their opponents. So they can't really be that bad no matter how strong India's batting is.[/quote'] Yes, but would you not agree that they may have something to do with the dominant positions their batsman have placed them in?

[cricketlover]

bowling isnt that bad as ppl make it out to be but it isnt fun to watch

[Ultimate_Game]

Yes' date=' but would you not agree that they may have something to do with the dominant positions their batsman have placed them in?[/quote'] Not all the time. refer the last series in SA. After losing the 1st test the bowlers made a comeback by bowling out SA for 120 odd. If you see the stats in the recent series you will find it as a common theme. Indian bowlers have delivered when it mattered and occasionally when the batsmen had floundered. I would take a consistent bowling unit which delivers when it matters over a "fun" unit which is highly unpredictable.

[daryl1985]

In my opinion Sreesanth is a good test bowler. He can be wayward but once every 2 or 3 tests he will produce a devastating spell. Ishant Sharma looked rubbish last year but i think he was playing through injury. I think Ojha is underrated on this forum and has done very well since coming into the side. I dont think he will ever become a world class bowler but can be very good for India. Harbhajan is a worry. He seems to have a string of bad matches, gets criticised and when everyone calls for him to be dropped he comes up with a rare match winning performance. We need Harbhajan to produce the goods more often.

[Number]

I feel same ,our bowling unit is so under-rated. mostly because they couldn't defend 297 and 338 in aus. In SA they did well not only in test but in one day as well . 2 matches that we won , our bowlers won them for us. and last 2 ODIs our inexperienced line up , with out of form dhoni and yuvi choked. stats in post no 5 show they are decent considering the fact they have to bowl a lot on flat tracks. But it will always be in the shadow of batting.

[Silva]

Its under rated. Everybody calls for Harbhajan to be dropped but he almost won us a test series in South Africa. I remember everyone saying he was going to be ineffective in south africa. Ishant Sharma I feel also gets unfairly criticized. People forget that he's taken 90 wickets and he is only 22 years old. He had a bad tour of south Africa but if India won the toss in the first test match it would be a very different story with regards to how people view Ishant Sharma. He would have loved bowling on that damp pitch.

[Sid]

Bowling is good but its not phaassstttt according to some.

[Stuge]

its just too bad ... thats why they won the world cup.

[Dhruv200]

I like the way how people underestimate our bowling and we keep winning the matches to make them shut up u dont need speed to win the matches u need wickets.

[NareshK]

Indian bowling is very underrated. Zaheer is one of the best bowlers in the world. Nehra and Munaf are quite decent and have lots of experience. Harbhajan has lost a bit of form of late but he has tons of experience and can raise his game on a given day. In tests, Sreesanth and Ishant have proved they are effective and can run through a side like they showed in Aus and SA. We also have promising spinners in Ojha, Ashwin and Mishra. Dont go by people just looking to knock down Indian team with some lame excuses. You dont reach No.1 in tests, No.2 in ODIs and become World Champions without a good bowling attack.

[WC2011INDIA]

I cannot imagine the horror on the faces of the opposition while batting if Indian bowling becomes really good.

[Cricket Tragic]

It gets the job done more often than not.

[vijay810]

India has achieved the no 1 test ranking and won the T20 Worldcup and 50 over World Cup in last 5 years. It has managed to draw or win the series iabroad in the same 5 years be it the fast tracks of Australia , seam and swing of England or NZ pitches or slow and turning pitches of SL ,WI. Ask yourself this question Would these wins have been possible if bowling was as bad as it is made out to be. We may not have express fast bowlers or spin wizards but the bowlers we have got are disciplined and deceptive and are reasonably talented to take wickets. They have taken wickets..defended low score both in ODI and Tests. T20 is more of a lottery and no bowler from any team can boast of consistent good performances. Our bowlers are under rated and it works fine to our advantage most of times. Most of the teams with good bowling attacks have also failed to defend scores a few times and some have not managed to win series for years despite being under impression of having great bowlers.

[Pak_Forever]

In last 2 - 3 years, India has played majority of its games in India and their spinners do well on day 3 - 4 slow pitches. Most of the times you will see India batsmen posting mammoth total and other team just crumbling under pressure. Like Lanka they are giants at home but off-shore I am not sure if there's much to talk about. Overall their bowling is not that bad, especially in limited over cricket it's pretty good, but in Test....