While the Men in Blue salvaged some pride by pulling off a dramatic 63-run victory over South Africa in the third Test at Johannesburg last Saturday, it was the persistent hard work by the four fast bowlers that paved the way for a sensational turnaround on a precarious track. Mohammed Shami led the fightback with a career-best five-wicket haul, as India snared the last nine wickets for a mere 53 runs to skittle out the hosts for 177, thus avoiding a whitewash in the three-Test series.
While the series was lost, despite Kohli&Co. being on a winning position in the opening Test at Cape Town, Team India could take a lot of heart from the fact the fast bowlers gave the hosts a dose of their medicine with a perfect blend of aggression, raw pace and a lot of variety. It was the first time an all-pace attack fashioned the team’s victory on overseas soil with the four full-time pacers sharing all the 20 wickets at Johannesburg, a welcome first in Indian cricket. Jasprit Bumrah led the pack with match figures of 7/111, while Shami (6/74), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4/83) and Ishant Sharma (3/64) completed the carnage.
It would be fair to say that bowlers called the shots in the three-Test series which the Proteas pocketed 2-1. For the first time in the history of the game, all 40 wickets fell in each Test in a series of three or more matches.
The silver lining, however, was Indian bowlers tasting rare success while on away tour: It was only the third time in an away series of three or more Tests that they scalped all the wickets on offer in each Test. The two other instances were in England 1986, when India won 2-0, and in Sri Lanka in 2015, when they won 2-1. Of the 60 opposition wickets to fall in South Africa, the fast bowlers, including Hardik Pandya, picked up 53 while Ravichandran Ashwin accounted for the remaining seven.
Drawing praise
The success of Shami, Bhuvneshwar, Ishant and debutant Jasprit Bumrah in particular, augurs well for the future. All the four seamers can generate good pace, with Bumrah and Shami capable of bowling at 145 kmph or more. Most importantly, all of them have different skill sets, something which makes them more dangerous as an unit. The bench strength too looks formidable with another genuine quick, Umesh Yadav, waiting for his turn.
That Indian pacers were taking more wickets abroad than ever before didn’t go unnoticed even before India won the Johannesburg Test. One person who has worked closely with Indian bowlers is former bowling coach Eric Simons. Commenting on India’s bowling unit after the second Test at Centurion, Simons, whose stint in India saw them lift the 2011 World Cup, termed the pacers’ efforts as “top job.” “South Africa’s bowling attack, in these conditions, is much more vaunted but in both Tests, India’s bowling has kept them to nearly the same scores and created chances of victory. That puts in perspective how well these guys have bowled. What they did really well was have good tactics and plans in place, and they executed those plans too.”
Another player who was left mighty impressed by India’s pace attack was frontline opposition batsman AB de Villiers. “India really impressed me. They have surprised us in terms of pace bowling. They have showed a lot more skill and definitely there is a lot more pace than we expected,” de Villiers had said ahead of the third Test. Inspiring words, coming from an inspirational cricketer.
Payback time
With pitches in South Africa known to offer pace and bounce, spinners were never part of the equation to win matches. That’s what happened this time around too. While the South African seamers lived up to their reputation both at Cape Town and Centurion, it was the Indian seamers who surprised everybody by running through the opposition on each occasion to place their team in a winning position. If only the batsmen showed a little more heart, the end result of the rubber could have panned out differently.
The situation was far from ideal as India went into the third Test. The series was lost, the team management game plan too was under the lens. And with the pitch at Johannesburg traditionally known to have a green cover, Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri had their task cut out. With the prospect of a first ever whitewash in South Africa looming large, the Indian think tank indeed showed spine by falling back on the bowlers, who have been exceptional throughout. The batters, barring Kohli, in any case, had done little to spawn any hope. That India went ahead with a no-spin-all-pace attack shows the faith the team management had in the seamers. And they didn’t disappoint. With the pitch behaving unpredictably, the Indian pace quartet hit the deck hard and extracted enough movement, both off the pitch and in the air, to rattle the host batsmen. The body blows to Dean Elgar in the final session of the third day even prompted the umpires to stop the play, terming the track too treacherous for the game. It wasn’t a pretty sight for the hosts, but it was indeed rare and comforting for the Indian fan. It was payback time.
With two important series lined-up in England and Australia down the year, India’s potent five-men pace battery will surely have a major role to play.
Fast kids on the block
Going by the latest trends, India is on the verge of ushering in a golden era of fast bowling. While the senior pros have already earned a name for themselves, what’s encouraging is the emergence of a new brigade, which is fearless, aggressive and, most importantly, hungry to knock off batsmen with sheer pace.
Rajasthan fast bowler Kamlesh Nagarkoti (18) and UP seamer Shivam Mahi (19) have taken the cricketing world by storm with their dazzling show at the ongoing U-19 ODI World Cup in New Zealand. Capable of consistently bowling at over 140 kmph, Nagarkoti took everyone by surprise when he managed to generate some serious pace and bowled a delivery at 146.8 kmph in the opening match against Australia. Mavi too is a regular in the 140 kmph zone and clocked 145 kmph in the same match. With proper grooming, both Nagarkoti and Mavi can be moulded into a lethal combination which hunts well as a pair. Nagarkoti also became the costliest U-19 player in the latest IPL auction, bagging a Rs 3.2 crore deal with Kolkata Knight Riders. He has taken seven wickets in India’s journey en route the U-19 World Cup final, where they take on Australia on Saturday. Mavi too was picked up by KKR for Rs 3 crore. The youngster has so far impressed with his performance, picking up 8 wickets at just 4.09 runs per over.
Without a doubt, Indian pace bowling is coming of age. The new bunch is fast, and furious.
aritramukhopadhyay@mydigitalfc.com