Bowled over by young brigade

Sreesanth, the first lad from Kerala to make it to the Indian team, made his presence felt in the last three one-dayers. — Photo by Reuters

Indian bowlers, who were battered by Pakistani batsmen in the three Tests and the first one-dayer, rose splendidly to the occasion and bounced back, helping Team India to clinch their second successive one-day series in Pakistan. The first came in 2003-04 when India won 3-2.

The good news for Indian cricket is that this fightback was led by the young guns — Irfan Pathan, R.P. Singh and S. Sreesanth. All three are just 20 and we can hope that they will serve the team for a long time. In the fourth one-dayer at Multan, the trio claimed eight wickets and restricted Pakistan to 161, their third lowest total when batting first against India in a 50-over match. India registered their most convincing victory against Pakistan in terms of number of balls remaining — 135. The trio bowled so well that the services of super sub Zaheer Khan were not required at all.

Though Pathan has already made his presence felt on many occasions earlier, Rudra Pratap Singh and Sreesanth made the Pakistani batsman toil on their home soil. Man of the match at Multan, Singh recorded the best bowing figures (4-40) at Multan. Overall, it was the second instance when he took four wickets, his earlier being four for 35 against Sri Lanka.

Singh, who first made the headlines in the under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2004 when he took eight wickets at 24.75 apiece, was declared man of the match in his debut Test in Faisalabad against Pakistan. In the 11 one-dayers he has played, he has already grabbed 19 wickets at an average of around 20 and has picked up three man-of-the-match awards. But his performance against Pakistan was exceptionally good where he grabbed eight wickets in just three matches.

Even Rahul Dravid admitted that the emergence of R.P. Singh was one of the big positives on this tour. "He is developing well, learning very quickly, works very hard and he is a good young bowler," Dravid said.

Similarly, Kerala lad Sreesanth, the first one to make it to the team from the state made his presence felt in a big way in the last three one-dayers, including a career-best 4-58 in Karachi, and it was a pity that he had three catches dropped off his bowling in Lahore. He may not have many wickets to show for all the hard work that he put in (he has 10 wickets in his kitty in nine matches at an average of 48), but that doesn’t diminish his role in India’s triumph. He

was sharp and his presence gave more variety to the attack. It was something readily acknowledged by coach Greg Chappell. "Sreesanth brings fresh spirit and enthusiasm to the attack, and he can also be quick," opined Chappell.

Irfan Pathan, who became the first bowler to take a hat-trick in the first over of a Test (Karachi), must be feeling relaxed as Singh and Sreesanth complemented his efforts well and are ready to share his burden now. Pathan makes a lot of batsmen sweat with his swing as well as seam movement. Pathan debuted in January, 2004, against Australia has played 52 one-dayers and scalped 88 batsmen and has won the man-of-the-match award six times.

One can clearly see the resurgence of Indian bowling in the one-day series against Pakistan. Pakistan crossed the 300-run mark only in the first match, which they won, though by the Duckworth-Lewis method. In the third match, too, Pakistan managed just 265, which Indian batsmen achieved with ease. In the fourth match, Indian bowlers bundled out Pakistan for 161, sealing the fate of the series.

With the World Cup coming next year, India can rely on this young talent. Though the Indian batting line-up is known in the world as it has the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, we can boast of a lethal trio in bowling too. — I.S.

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