View Full Version : India's fast bowling depth
__aria__
6 Mar 2008, 11:46
Up until recent times I have always thought of India as a side with highly talented batsmen who often carried their average bowling attack. After watching this summer I can't beleive the incredible depth they have in the fast bowling department.
After Zaheer Khan went down in the test match I thought these guys were going to get dominated by our batting lineup. Another injury to R.P. Singh was easily covered by them.
Zaheer Khan, R.P. Singh and Sreesanth - We've all seen what these guys can do on their day. Ishant Sharma is one of the most impressive young bowlers i've seen. Kumar wouldn't have normally been in the side but destroyed us in the second final swinging the ball both ways. Not to mention Pathan who bowled extremely well bar a couple ODI's at the end.
I'm not really familiar with a lot of our bowlers in the domestic comp but how would we go if Lee, Clarke and Bracken were all injured at once? Could we cover our injuries the way India did so successfully?
Is Mitch Johnson our best young prospect?:(
How do you rate the Indian bowlers?
Did our poor form with the bat make them look better than they are?
MasterOfRoc
6 Mar 2008, 11:58
Ill wait to see just how consistent they are.
We all remember indias "Great youngsters" back earlier in the decade, the same "Great Youngsters" we haven't seen (much of at all) since
I agree they do have a lot of depth in their bowling and they have some pretty good young fast bowlers coming up through the ranks in the U/19's. They just won the U/19's World Cup and it seems they have a lot of talented youngsters. But as has been mentioned before fame and fortune seems to get to their heads a bit. I hope that wont happen with the current lot because at the moment they seem to have the right mix ok pace and spin coming through. Also I think they have some gun young batsmen coming up as well.
Up until recent times I have always thought of India as a side with highly talented batsmen who often carried their average bowling attack. After watching this summer I can't beleive the incredible depth they have in the fast bowling department.
If I was Robert Craddock, I would be calling them 'unsung heroes'. I'm not, though. While they have talented bowlers, I still believe there is far greater talent in their batting line-up.
After Zaheer Khan went down in the test match I thought these guys were going to get dominated by our batting lineup. Another injury to R.P. Singh was easily covered by them.
Fair enough - they did well to cover Zaheer Khan's absence (although his purple patch isn't as purple as some would like to believe and his overall average is still mediocre). I don't rate RP Singh - his erratic line and length, plus his laughably bad economy rate, may have rendered him an ODI liability regardless.
Zaheer Khan, R.P. Singh and Sreesanth - We've all seen what these guys can do on their day.
Any bowler can be devestating 'on their day' - even Shaun Tait, FFS.
As for Sreesanth, I rate him far more highly than RP Singh and he does look like he has a good future as a Test bowler (although it's too early to say whether he is). He can certainly move the ball both late and prodigiously both ways (too much at times, even). As an ODI bowler, I'm not sold - he's way too expensive.
Ishant Sharma is one of the most impressive young bowlers i've seen.
I agree. Comparing him to Glenn McGrath though, as Ian Healy has done, is erroneous. To me, his action is more remniscent of Shane Bond's and Javagal Srinath's.
Kumar wouldn't have normally been in the side but destroyed us in the second final swinging the ball both ways. Not to mention Pathan who bowled extremely well bar a couple ODI's at the end.
Agree on both to a certain extent, although Praveen Kumar capitalised on poor shots more than anything else.
As for Pathan, while he has certainly improved as a Test bowler (his record still screams 'minnow basher' though), he is still too expensive in ODI's (he may get too much swing, if anything). He did bowl well a lot of the time, though, when conditions weren't that conducive to swing.
I'm not really familiar with a lot of our bowlers in the domestic comp but how would we go if Lee, Clark and Bracken were all injured at once?
Not that likely to happen - none of them (not even Lee, I don't think) have Zaheer Khan's shocking injury record. That is a good question, but I can't say that we'll ever truly know the answer. Clark is also not that hot as an ODI bowler - he needs a better slower ball (or slower balls), IMO.
Could we cover our injuries the way India did so successfully?
We are still the best team in the world. That being said, Australia doesn't have the talent pool or population base to work with, so maybe not.
Is Mitch Johnson our best young prospect?:(
Oh come off it, it's not like his record sucks. In fact, his ODI record is good (if inconsistent) and he has been more effective in Tests than many give him for (he has impressed me more than RP Singh did - not bowling in Adelaide, contrary to what dipsh!t Healy thinks, helped his average).
As for the Johnson.vs.Tait debate - Johnson>>Tait overall.
How do you rate the Indian bowlers?
Sharma>Khan>>Sreesanth>Pathan>RP Singh = Kumar
Did our poor form with the bat make them look better than they are?
Most possibly.
Ricketts
6 Mar 2008, 20:01
Did our poor form with the bat make them look better than they are?
This is pretty much it.
Ishant is a good bowler.
Praveen and RP Singh are rubbish, and only get wickets when we give them zero respect, which is really annoying to watch.
Irfan has gone so far backwards.
Sreesanth is better than RP and Praveen but he's still not very good, goes for plenty and doesnt really get many wickets unlike Lee or Tait.
Zaheer is still probably their main man and he's only ok.
Did our poor form with the bat make them look better than they are?
If you answer yes to this then you must also say that Lees wickets were only due to India's poor form with the bat.