While flipping around the channels, I got a chance to watch
the highlights package of
South Africa Vs West Indies (WC 2015); ABD
taking on hopeless Windies bowlers, to be specific he was severe on his
opposite number- Jason Holder. Holder’s last two overs cost 64 runs , it made
his bowling stats take a heavy beating, he was literally pulverized…
Well…Hang on….
What is the guarantee that our bowlers will not be torn
apart like this?
Due to more than decent bowling performances in middle overs on the ongoing World Cup made us to forget our death bowling Woes?
Our Death bowling which was under tremendous scrutiny not so long ago, did we forget that?
All pundits were expressing disbelief on our death bowling, we forgot that as well?
Why is nobody speaking about that?
Surprising... Surprising…
Is our Death Bowling still a concern for Dhoni?
So just thought of discussing about India’s death bowling- Who are our death bowlers and where do they stand now.
Finishing first in the league table means getting an easier
draw in the next round in any sport and Cricket is not exclusion... India will
face Bangladesh in Quarter-finals...
Yes Bangladesh knocked us out of World Cup in 2007..Yes they have
some real quality players in Shakib, Mahmadullah (first Bangladeshi to score
century in WC), Rahim.
But still….
I certainly believe this team under
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will make minnows look like minnows... India will easily
cruise past Bangladesh..
Death overs:
(40-43) With new ICC rules (batting power play within 40
overs-two new balls-only 4 fielders allowed outside the inner-circle) based on my
observation on recent matches, batsman tend to re-organize after batting power
play (irrespective of teams) and the shrewdness of our captain makes him toss
the ball to Ravi Jadeja, in return, he slips in two quick overs with not much scored
(max 15 in those 2 overs).
So from 44th over, an Almighty slog begins… Following
cricket for longer time, we got to be knowledgeable enough to understand that
if anything less than 55-60 runs in those 7 overs is a decent bowling
performance, if we can restrict opposition not to score more than 40 in those 7
overs that could be graded as champion performances, so who do we got to put in
such champion performances?
Yadav
Shami
Mohit
Umesh Yadav: There is a reason why I put Yadav ahead of
others. Everybody thinks about him as a bowler with raw pace and no control...
I still believe he is one of our best death bowlers. All books says, best ball
to bowl at death is Yorker, Umesh is someone who can bowl 6 Yorkers consistently
(may be, he will spill one down the leg side, Oh common… Even Steyn spills one
or two).Delivering Yorker is an art; it is something which can be delivered irrespective of the conditions... Bouncy pitch, swinging pitch, low pitch, slow pitch, dry wicket, moist wicket, flat track, fast track irrespective of the conditions a Yorker is a Yorker… If Umesh can bowl some consistent Yorkers in India he can very well do so in Australia. Just that, he needs some backing and confidence, rightly so, our management and Skipper found that and persisted with him and now we are reaping rich dividends. He is a prized asset; we got to groom him. He becoming a world beater is not so far, he is a much better bowler than we all think.
Mohammed Shami:
He is the prime example on what can Skipper’s confidence can do to a player. He
has developed himself as India’s spearhead. He is Dhoni’s go to man and in
Death overs certainly. He came in raw, Conquered the Indian conditions, Exposed
outside sub-continent. Alright, he is now at top of his game and is India’s
most consistent bowler. None can point fingers at this prospect. He is the most
hardworking bowler, most consistent and intelligent bowler. He bowls according
to his captain; by virtue of all these, he is India’s most successful bowler
too (He has 80 + wickets in 45 ODI’s, second to Bond of NZ who has 87 wickets
in same tenure)
He is not someone who keeps 8-2 offside field and bowl down
the leg, he knows what he is doing, with his pace touching 140+ consistently and
his control is big asset to any captain. His control combined with his lethal Yorkers,
bouncers and subtle change of pace makes him the India’s most reliable bowler.
Mohit Sharma: Death
specialist, I just love him… just for the case, he understands his game and
also the game situations. He is a person who very well knows what are his strengths
and weaknesses. He bowls within himself. He is someone who is pacy than he actually
looks like, he is a skiddy customer. I will go on and on and on... Just, love
his ability to adjust... We will frame a separate article giving closer look on
Mohit.
Oops… coming back to the agenda,
Death bowling and Mohit are recent pals; He developed a variety of slower balls, in last one year, he is living his dream, on top of his game, especially in bowling in death.
He developed 3 different slower deliveries (not just developed
it, he is spot on while executing), to fox the batsman
- Off-cutter slower ball
- Back of the hand slower ball
- Split finger slower one ( loosened ball)
[We certainly, will have separate tutorial articles on how to
bowl all these types of deliveries and when to use them for reader’s knowledge]
Alright, Off-cutter he will roll his wrist over the ball,
there will be drop in pace and the ball will cut inside and if the batsman
misses it would be at the stumps and the batsman will be bowled or LBW. sometimes, this type of deliveries are read
by the batsman as the seam rotates giving batsman an indication and they defend
it or muscle it over long on(could be caught in deep if not middled properly).
Then Mohit came out with Back-hand slow ball, there won’t be
any wobbling of seam, ball will come in as a seam up delivery ( few notches slow
in pace), if the batsman doesn’t read it from bowler’s hand, it will loop in
the air off the batsman’s bat and will
be caught in the inner circle.
Interesting delivery Mohit developed recent times is his Split
finger slower ball. There won’t be any change in bowling action. Just that he
will hold the ball loose with fingers split. Once the bowler delivers it, the ball will loop, coming in as a full toss
and will tempt the batsman to go for a wild slog over mid wicket/long on,
but the ball will dip in while reaching the batsman and with his bat nowhere
near the ball making the batsman to be a candidate for Leg before or bowled.. Mind it,
it’s a real tough art to master and our Mohit Sharma can do that with his eyes
closed.
I can read your voice... These are same bowlers which we were
having for last three months and they were taken apart... Why am I saying these
bowlers will be handy?
-There were many combination tested before the World Cup
-Everybody are playing for the World Cup berth
-They were under extreme pressure on how to get selectors
nod and many more.
Now we zeroed in on a combination; trusted them, most
importantly backed them…
And yeah, This is World Cup, We are defending champions...
A pretty interesting combination with Pace, control and
variety.
Yes Pacy Yadav, Controlled Shami and tricky Mohit.
We got to accept these are the best bunch of bowlers in the past
5 years for India.
Irrespective of these, all of us still want our bowlers to
bowl well in middle overs and take important wickets and avoid/minimize the mighty
slog...
I can’t promise, that India will never face a situation where
batsman will try to heave everything...
I can’t promise, that India will not be in a South Africa-West
Indies situation…
All I can assure is India’s death bowling is in safe hands
and we will not leak that many runs in the death.
No more night mares, we will do well.
And Yeah……….. #We won’t give it back
Have a good one.
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