Bhuvi adds muscle to swing

Subhash Rajta

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Tribune News Service

Kolkata, September 22

In overcast conditions, on a juicy wicket, there are few bowlers who can make the new ball and batsmen dance better than Bhuvneshwar Kumar. On Thursday, with India defending an average 252-run total, the UP bowler showed yet again that there’s no one quite like him when it comes to making the most of the swing-friendly conditions. He literally toyed with the Australian openers in his opening spell, menacingly swinging the ball both ways. While he bamboozled rookie opener Hilton Cartwright with an intelligent mix of inswing and outswing, he got the experienced David Warner with a steady supply of outswingers. The twin blow gave India the start they desperately needed to defend a rather small total, besides laying the groundwork for the wrist spinners to weave their magic in the middle overs.

No wonder, skipper Virat Kohli was pleased as punch with Kumar. “That opening spell was amazing, he was pretty much unplayable at times,” said Kohli. “The deliveries he produced to get the openers were simply unplayable.” Australia skipper Steve Smith, looking absolutely gutted with the second consecutive capitulation of his batting line-up, also thought Kumar was brilliant. “He moved the ball both ways, challenged our defences... He did what’s expected of your premier bowlers in these conditions,” said Smith.

Not just good-conditions bowler  

While Kumar continues to exploit favourable conditions as well as ever, he’s certainly not entirely dependent on them to strut his stuff, as he probably was when he started out about five years back. “At the start of my career, I relied on the conditions. Slowly, as you play more international cricket, you become aware of the areas you need to improve,” said Kumar. “I knew I had to increase my pace but had no clue how.”

Gifted with the ability to swing the ball considerably both ways, Kumar had a good run in his first two years in international cricket. But gradually, his lack of pace began to hurt. Knowing that he didn’t have the pace to bowl short, the batsmen started playing him a lot forward to negate his swing, and this ploy took the sting out of his bowling. He didn’t have a second weapon in his armoury to counter the advancing batsmen. It appeared he would meet the same fate as Praveen Kumar did, who swung the ball as well as Bhuvneshwar but could not survive for long due to lack of pace.

Power training

Fortunately for Kumar, trainer Shankar Basu brought in the concept of power training when he was struggling. It turned out to be a blessing for the beleaguered bowler as it helped him add a few crucial yards to his pace. “Our new trainer came up with power training. It helped me get stronger, and my pace increased. However, I didn’t try too many things beyond focusing on my swing,” said Kumar. That’s perhaps the smartest thing Kumar did, for a bowler could lose his swing if he overstrains himself to bowl quicker. The extra effort could affect the wrist position and the shape and balance of the body, which are key to generating swing. Maybe that’s what happened to Irfan Pathan — the left-arm pacer just lost his enormous ability to swing the ball.

The increased pace meant that Kumar was no longer just a new-ball bowler; he could bowl the death overs as well, as effective as upfront. And bowling the death overs helped him add weapons like yorkers, cutters and slower ones to his repertoire, helping him become a more versatile bowler.