‘India not a fast-bowling nation yet’

New Delhi, January 19 

The Indian pace attack has been talked up of late and, to be fair, they have done a decent job in South Africa. But former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar feels it’s just the beginning and there is still a long way to go before India becomes a good fast- bowling nation.

After a long gap, India have developed a sizeable pool of speedsters and five of them — Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah — are in the squad touring South Africa at the moment. 

Is it one of the best pace attacks India have ever had? “I would not say that. I would say they are gradually improving, but there is a long way to go before India can call itself a good fast bowling nation,” said Akhtar.

“Five years ago, I had thought that Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami would be the ones to lead India’s pace department on overseas tours. But that did not happen with Aaron having fitness issues, Yadav being good in patches only, like Pakistan’s Wahab Riaz.” 

Akhtar, however, felt they would get better under the aggressive leadership of Virat Kohli. — PTI