Pace is the key to remain at top, what do you think?
By grvdubey11
@grvdubey11 (1879)
India
August 15, 2011 6:45pm CST
Well India just remained no 1 for 20 months,with such a great batting line up India always had to struggle series after series when they toured to defend no 1 crown,as we saw in tours of SA and SL where series ended at 1-1.The reason India has not dominated like Aussies and WI of past is lack of pace bowlers,i am surprised that with so much improved cricket system in India still emphasis is not given to pace bowling.Take example of Ishant Sharma, he was at his best when he was bowling at 140 kmph in Aus.Apart from Zaheer all the bowlers who are in top ten are good pace like Steyn, Morkel,Anderson,Tremlett etc.Also apart from Zaheer and Vaas i cant remember any other bowler who is lethal in-spite of not having much pace.India may regain their no 1 ranking , but its unlikely that they will hold on to it for long again.I hope selectors and BCCI realize the importance of pace bowling .I wonder why India cant produce fast bowlers , while Pak and SL can with almost similar conditions,i think there is not enough seriousness in Indian cricket about producing good fast bowlers.Develop lethal bowlers who have pace and then back them, it will be good for long term even if India does not do well for some series.Share your views.
7 responses
@warrior007 (570)
• India
16 Aug 11
the main reason behind not having pace bowlers is corruption,we have seen ipl there are some good pace bowlers like varun aaron he has the ability to bowl at 147 kmps continuously also he has done well in home test series but our selectors are not giving him chance and waiting for time when he loss his pace. Its really frustating when we see pace bowlers of our neighbour countries they are smaller than ours but still have quality bowlers with more pace than our bowlers after that we dont have any replacement of zaheer it means after zaheer we dont have any options,so with this condition i dont think India would regain its number 1 rankings.
1 person likes this
@grvdubey11 (1879)
• India
20 Aug 11
More than corruption, i think its lack of seriousness on the part of BCCI and selectors towards finding good bowlers.There are no signs of improvement in domestic circuit for finding new talents , i admit that BCCI has given good facilities but is that enough?you dont provide sporting wickets , play the game of musical chairs with fast bowlers,like we see Mithun playing couple of series and going out, Unadkat and Yadav were selected for unknown logic and they were removed by same unknown logic again.Thanks a lot for your response.
@dollar3235 (2062)
• India
16 Aug 11
You know what....that big time F is bowling academy of Dennis lily, you go there, your pace will be nicely screwed up and after that, you will be a fast bowler only for the name sake. It's happening from last 10 years but BCCI has never thought of taking any actions against it.
Varun Aaron has bowled at a speed of 153 Kmph but wait for another 5 years, you will see him spinning the ball, just like Munaf Patel. 
1 person likes this
@hanuma34 (819)
• India
16 Aug 11
Hello grvdubey. What you stated is true to some extent only. Our pace bowling in the present series is not all that bad to bring out the dismal result. In my opinion it is the failure of the batsmen which you call great batting line up, that performed dismally. Broad, Bresnan,Anderson,Tremlett and co. seem to have been coached to bowl to Indian batsmen after in depth study of their strengths and weaknesses. Indian batsmen showed their reflexes are a wee bit slower and their inability to tackle rising balls. Our pace bowlers too bowled excellently. Yet almost every English batsman mauled them. There again a lot can be said about their study and training. Running between the wickets too seemed not upto the mark. All in all it is the failure of the batsmen for the debacle rather than the lack of pace attack.
Even in the spin department Indian team did not impress. Harbhajan seems to be not so effective. His bowling is mastered and he could not match even Steyn. On the whole Team India deserved to go down in the ranking like the way Australia crumbled.
It is also a factor that the physique of the players is coming into play in cricket nowadays. Height and strength and stamina are key characters. 
1 person likes this
@grvdubey11 (1879)
• India
16 Aug 11
Mate this is not just about this series.If we see the big picture, India does not have lethal bowler except Zak.Look at what England has done, they knew the weakness of India,hence they made slow pitches and left some grass on it,by doing this the their pace bowlers who could ball at 140 plus were still able to trouble the batsman as swing was there and they were producing pace for themselves.While Indian bowlers lacking in pace looked ineffective in-spite of them swinging the ball and bowling their hearts out.Now whenever India will tour SA,Aus and Eng ,its likely that we will get similar pitches like we got in this series that's why i mentioned that pace is the key if India has to compete in pitches of SA ,Aus and England in future that is.Indian bowlers with this attitude of bowling just good line and length will only work when India has made big score and opposite team is under pressure but that will not happen every time.Thanks a lot for your response.
@pratik87 (1927)
• India
17 Aug 11
Bowling does not depend on just bowling fast by that logic australia should still have been number one in cricket. they have fast bowlers like bollinger,johnson,lee and tait. bowling accurately is more important like pravin kumar has showed in the current series even mcgrath was not the quickest of bowlers.
@grvdubey11 (1879)
• India
20 Aug 11
Well Aus is struggling as they dont have suitable replacements for their star players.Also Tait ,Lee have retired from test cricket,which has left them with three good bowlers that is Siddle,Johnson and Bollinger who can bowl with decent pace and due to this Aussies compete much better than India when their batting fails.India in-spite of having the strong batting line up struggle outside India due to lack of lethal pace bowlers.If Aus manages to find some solid batsman like India,they have a good chance of competing for no 1 once again.Thanks a lot for your response.
@ebuscat (5935)
• Philippines
16 Aug 11
For me not for that it is need of many skills to be success.
@grvdubey11 (1879)
• India
20 Aug 11
Sure but since none of Indian bowlers are as talented as Zak, they will struggle without pace especially outside India.Thanks a lot for your response.
@dollar3235 (2062)
• India
16 Aug 11
Gaurav, we will have to wait until unless there will be a fast bowler in Tamilnadu or change of selector, we will not see any good bowler or player in India team.
I don't have a reason why Irfan Pathan/Wasim Jaffar is not in the team. If he can't bowl, at least he will bat better than these buggers. Anyways, we are not going to take 20 wickets.
I do agree with the fact that lack of pace is causing problems for India but transparency in selection is the key to remain at top.
Watch this video, if you love the country and the game of cricket, I'm sure your feel like breaking your head:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLSypLAPZ40
The only problem with him is, he is not from Tamilnadu. 
@grvdubey11 (1879)
• India
20 Aug 11
Hello mate, i have seen this video long back, i have read that Chahar is going to play from India U19 side in U19 world cup.I agree with such a talent is being ignored when India is struggling with bowling.Apart from Zak ,only Ishant and PK has shown the signs of being committed cricketers who can serve India for longer run.I am raising the point of pace as i have seen Sreesanth, Pk, RP,Irfan ,Undakat,Mithun,Vinay Kumar and other Indian bowlers swinging the ball and bowling with good line and length but still they look ordinary as with that pace you are unlikely to trouble batsman at international level.None of these guys are talented like Zak ,we have to admit that so only way they can match the talent and lethal bowling of Zak is to improve fitness and increase the pace.Thanks a lot for your response.
@dragon619 (71)
• India
17 Aug 11
thats a gud question u r asking,u dnt have to knw cricket's history to reply for the answer,just see a present day cricket match and u will see.......
australia vs srilanka
or ofcourse india vs england
australia who was a dominant team in cricket took only some years to come back into top form with help of their bowlers...
srilanka with malinga.....
all of the team has pace bowlers,i dnt knw why india dnt encourage a pace bowler........
@grvdubey11 (1879)
• India
20 Aug 11
That is because of lack of seriousness by BCCI and selectors towards improvement of bowling,selection of RP who lacks match practice is perfect example of mismanagement.India bowlers does not possess the fitness and commitment to do well at test level consistently and BCCI is not helping at all, you see Ishant , he was at his best when he was bowling at speed of 140 kmph in Aus, or Munaf was lethal when he started his career by bowling in 140s consistently.Thanks a lot for your response.
@ravisivan (14079)
• India
16 Aug 11
Grvdubey: For a few decades it has been an issue viz. not having sufficient fast bowlers. One reason for that may be adequate strength is not there. It depends on the food one takes and also childhood brought up.
anyhow your idea is good that India should try to have two or three fast bowlers who create fear in the minds of batsmen.
all these years we have been managing with spin bowling.
@grvdubey11 (1879)
• India
16 Aug 11
The problem is there is not enough seriousness and dedication towards producing fast bowlers and then taking care of them.If you remember we has Irfan who started at speed of 135-140 kmph with swing, it was quite lethal.Even Munaf was very fast at the start of his career.Thanks a lot for your response.
