M A I N   N E W S

A TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE
a dash of Sherry
Gaping holes in India’s bowling
By Navjot Singh Sidhu

The nation rejoiced as the Boys in Blue bulldozed Bangladesh into submission to begin their World Cup quest. It was a toast to the country and the over one billion people stood and applauded. The awesome batting display was ample testament that the Indian batting, along with Australia, is easily the best in world cricket.

A weak team allows the stronger side to get into a groove, experiment and fine-tune, and finally get that elusive combination, which then rolls like a juggernaut towards the target.

But the biggest room in the world is the room for improvement. Saturday night’s match exposed some gaping holes in the Indian bowling which need to be filled immediately.

Any bowling would look formidable when defending a total of 370 and above. But if the tables were turned, India could easily have conceded 350 runs bowling first.

The weakness of the opposition must be your strength. India must play to their strengths and play two spinners. Almost all the countries barring the ones from the sub-continent are suspect against quality spin bowling, especially on pitches low and slow pitches where the balls grips, pitches which are congenial to spin.

Three seamers do not augur well for the Indian bowling, since they neither have the searing pace, nor the genuine wicket-taking threat.

The secret to success doesn’t lie in the work but in recognising the right people to do that work. I firmly believe that R. Ashwin or Piyush Chawla should be used as they fit the bill. My vote goes to Ashwin, since I see in him a future asset for India. People may say two off-spinners would limit variation, but I say quality is a greater asset than variation.

Also, I fail to believe that Yuvraj Singh can bowl ten overs in a really competitive game. He is, at best, a part-time bowler who would send down 2-3 overs, provided he is clicking with the bat. I would expect Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj and Yusuf Pathan to play the fifth bowler’s role. But the specialists need to be two spinners and two seamers.