Pace has variety, but has it any sting?

Chandigarh, December 21

India regulars Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, two of the consistently fastest bowlers of the country, were put into the shade by completely unknown pace bowlers in the two Ranji Trophy semifinals.

In Kolkata, Vidarbha’s Rajneesh Gurbani ended up with 12 wickets to teammate Yadav’s five  as they helped their team beat Karnataka. In Pune, Delhi’s Navdeep Saini (seven wickets) and Kulwant Khejroliya (six wickets) took their team to an innings victory over Bengal, for whom Shami took 6/122 in the only innings he got to bowl.

Gurbani, Saini and Khejroliya outshone Yadav and Shami, who, along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma, will spearhead the Indian pace attack on the forthcoming tour of South Africa. New kids on the block are always welcome, but there’s one less-encouraging fact about the three “youngsters” — they’re all 25 or thereabouts. Saini and Khejroliya are over 25 while Gurbani turns 25 next month.

South Africa ahead

But no matter, new pacers challenging for spots in the Indian team would spur competition. Chief selector MSK Prasad should be happy with their advent, though he’s confident that the five Indian pacers selected for South Africa will do well there.

India’s five pacers in their 17-man squad are Shami, Yadav, Sharma, Kumar  and Jasprit Bumrah, while allrounder Hardik Pandya can be a good pace option as well. In South Africa, India will play three Tests, beginning January 5, followed by six ODIs and three T20Is.

India’s record in South Africa isn’t great — they’ve won only two of the 17 Tests played, and lost eight. The record is not great in ODIs as well, with four wins and 14 defeats. In T20Is, India’s record is better, with two wins and one loss.

‘Top attack’

“I can’t comment on the opposition bowling attack but from our perspective, we have one of the best bowling attacks that have toured South Africa,” Prasad said today. “It’s a wonderful bunch and more importantly, we are going with the No. 1 Test (ranking) tag.”

“The confidence we have with so many victories in Test matches... Though they have come at home but still, going on a winning note is always good,” he added. “So I am sure this is one of the most balanced teams that we have.”

“You see Umesh and Shami might be hitting 140 (kmph) but they still swing the ball. We also have Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar) who can swing the ball either way. We have included Bumrah who has variety. Ishant is there always and Hardik adds that different dimension,” Prasad continued. “So there are five different varieties of bowlers that we have picked.”

Prasad is right, though if this fast bowling bunch does remarkably well in South Africa, it would come as a surprise. The record of these bowlers in South Africa or Australia isn’t great. Of the five main pacers, only Sharma and Shami have played Test cricket in South Africa, and their record is nothing to get excited about. Yadav and Kumar haven’t played Tests there, but their record in Australia, where the wickets are somewhat akin to those in South Africa, is not stellar. Bumrah, of course, is yet to play Test cricket.

It would come as a very pleasant surprise if India’s pacers rock South Africa on their own turf — as it was when S Sreesanth (2006) and Zaheer Khan-Harbhajan Singh-Sreesanth (2010) helped India record their two Test wins in that country. — TNS, PTI