Split at the seam

Published>Tue, Aug 10 10 05:23 PM

India's bowling coach Eric Simmons has a lot of work on hand. During the Test series, the fast bowlers didn't come up with yorkers or sufficient slower ones nor they could find reverse swing with the kookaburra ball. Together the bowlers delivered too many no-balls.

Going into the one-dayers, Simmons will have an even more arduous task. During the first Test, Gary Kirsten had admitted that finding the ideal fast bowling unit for the World Cup was proving to be a challenge.

Sudeep Tyagi, Abhimanyu Mithun, Irfan Pathan, R Vinay Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Umesh Yadav, Abhishek Nayar, Munaf Patel, S Sreesanth and RP Singh, to name a few, have been among the 16-odd medium-pacers or bowling all-rounders who have played ODIs since Kirsten took over in March 2008.

So dire is the need to find medium-pacers who fit the bill in the 50-over game that the side is also using the Test matches ahead of the World Cup to hone in on the best possible unit. One bowler with a lot of promise is Ishant Sharma. However, an ankle injury has ruled out Ishant for the first one-day international of the tri-series against New Zealand on Tuesday. Ishant, Kirsten had said, was short on confidence going into the Test series. But after bowling in testing conditions against quality batsmen he would have gained self-belief.

Abhimanyu Mithun made the Test squad in place of an injured Zaheer Khan. And when Sreesanth returned home even before the tour game with a dodgy knee, Mithun got his chance. Ishant's injury presents an opportunity for India to give Mithun another run in one-dayers.

Mithun made his Test debut at Galle and has played one ODI against South Africa in Ahmedabad. Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra are the other medium-pacers in the side.

Mithun the all-rounder?

Mithun made runs in the Test series with a highest of 46 at the P Sara Oval. Though it would be too early to judge him as his international career is still in its nascent stage, Mithun could turn out to be the medium-pace bowling all-rounder that India desperately needs.

Both Praveen and Nehra are handy one-day bowlers and while the team played three medium-pacers during the Asia Cup held at the very same venue, it waits to be seen what kind of bowling combination they prefer in this tournament.

The team management will have to strike a fine balance between giving medium-pacers, who have the potential to make the World Cup squad, a decent number of matches but at the same time they have to be quick in sorting the chaff from the wheat. The team cannot afford to put the need to experiment over the desire to constantly win. It could lead to the side losing momentum and in a World Cup year it wouldn't be the wisest strategy.

Kirsten and Dhoni have in the past expressed their disappointment at the various fast bowlers who have been given a chance to play in the ODIs but haven't shown the potential or for that matter the hunger to play for the country for at least another five years. Injuries to key players always present an opportunity for a team to look at their bench strength. It is sometimes a blessing in disguise.

Over the past two years Team India has tried and tested various medium-pacers in an effort to find those who can make the cut when the World Cup side is announced. India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand will use this tri-series as part of their World Cup preparations. For Dhoni and Kirsten, it presents another opportunity to test the mettle of the medium-pacers.

Source: Web Search