The Indian cricket team is basking in glory after their astounding
Test series win against Australia at home
Santhosh S27-Apr-2001The Indian cricket team is basking in glory after their astounding
Test series win against Australia at home. The fact that India has not
won a Test series abroad in the last eight years is playing on their
minds. Saurav Ganguly and his men would want to set the record
straight as soon as possible. The forthcoming tour of Zimbabwe
presents an ideal opportunity for the Indians to win a Test series
abroad. The Indian batting line up is one of the very best in the
world, with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid
and Saurav Ganguly making the run machine. It is the bowling
department that causes some worry, when it comes to winning Test
matches for India.The selectors have declared a squad of 26 for the preparatory camp
ahead of the tour. It would be interesting to take a look at the
Indian bowling which would have to bowl out 20 wickets in the Test
matches to give India victory. In all possibility India will play four
bowlers in the Test match with Tendulkar and Ganguly filling in the
change bowler’s role. Javagal Srinath and Harbhajan Singh are the only
certainties. The other two spots will be fought out between Ajit
Agarkar, Zaheer Khan and in all possibility the off spinner Sarandeep
Singh.Rahul Sanghvi might make the trip to Zimbabwe, but the very fact that
he was dumped after the first Test match against Australia in Mumbai
after he had bowled 10 overs in five spells says a lot about the kind
of confidence Ganguly has in left arm spinners. To add to the theory,
Nilesh Kulkarni was asked to bowl a run denying negative line in the
third Test at Chennai. Murali Kartik too was given a raw deal by
Ganguly on his debut against Bangladesh in Dhaka.A closer look at the statistics suggest that the Indian bowling is not
really anywhere near match-winning standards with the exception of
Harbhajan Singh. Javagal Srinath is India’s spearhead in the fast
bowling department. The 32 year old speedster from Karnataka made his
debut against the Aussies at the Gabba, Brisbane in the year 1991 and
has so far played in 50 Test matches picking up 185 wickets at 29.94
runs apiece. He has picked up five wicket in an innings seven times
with the best figures of 8/86. He has a Test match strike rate of
62.60 when compared to that of Zimbabwe’s Heath Streak, who has a
better figure of 57.40Ajit Agarkar the 23 year old fast bowler from Mumbai is almost a
certainty to tour Zimbabwe. He made his Test match debut at Harare
Sports Club, Zimbabwe in 1998, which India lost by 61 runs. He has so
far represented India in nine Test matches picking up 23 wickets at
36.86 apiece with a strike rate of 77.20. There is so much potential
in this young fast bowler but he has not developed into a genuine Test
match winner. India will be looking forward to him to deliver the
goods in Zimbabwe. It is a do or die situation for Agarkar; any
further extension of failure will not been taken lightly by the
selectors, given the fact that there are other young fast bowlers in
Ashish Nehra and Rakesh Patel waiting in the wings.Zaheer Khan is a newcomer to Test match cricket. This 22 year old fast
bowler was instrumental in Baroda winning the Ranji Trophy this
season. He made his Test match debut in Bangladesh and has so far
played in 4 Test matches, picking up eight wickets at 48 runs apiece
with a strike rate of 89.70. Though the fact that he is relatively new
to the international level does not justify his strike rate.Harbhajan Singh, the twenty year old lad from Punjab is the new Indian
bowling sensation. He made his Test debut against the Aussies at
Bangalore in March 1998. Though he disappeared from the international
arena for a couple of years, he made a strong comeback against the
visiting Aussies in 2001, picking up 32 wickets in the three Test
match series. He single-handedly destroyed the acclaimed Aussie
batting with his brand of off spinners. In the 11 Test matches he has
played he has picked up 53 wickets with a career best of 8/84. A
remarkable bowling average of 25.56 with a strike rate of 52.5 makes
him the most lethal of the bowlers amongst the Indian bowling line up.Sarandeep Singh, the 21 year old Off spinner from Punjab has been
distinctly unlucky after making a good debut against Zimbabwe at
Nagpur in November 2000. He did not get to play a Test match after the
Nagpur match, in which he picked up six wickets at 34.33 apiece with a
strike rate of 71.00. India might decide to go in with two off
spinners, given the fact that Zimbabwe has a good deal of left handed
batsmen in their team.Sachin Tendulkar who is better known with his exploits with the bat is
an able bowler too. He notched up his 100th ODI wicket recently
against the visiting Aussies at home. Tendulkar has not been a great
success in Test match cricket. One look at his phenomenal ability and
the bowling statistics reveal that he has not been used properly, as a
bowler. In the 82 Test matches that he has graced this great game of
Test cricket, he has bowled a mere 273 overs and picked up 22 wickets
at 38.09 runs apiece. The fact that his strike rate is 74.4 balls per
wicket suggest that he has been used as a change bowler.Compared to all players on show is the man who has been the main cog
in the Indian bowling machine, Anil Kumble. There can’t be two
opinions about Kumble’s match winning capability. He has won India
more matches than anyone in the last Ten years. This 30 year old leg
spinner from Karnataka who is nursing a shoulder injury will be sorely
missed in Zimbabwe. Kumble has the rare distinction of picking up all
the ten wickets to fall in an innings (10/74 against Pakistan in New
Delhi). In 61 Test match appearances he has picked up 276 wickets at
an average of 28.00 with a strike rate of 69.20So, many reasons including the restrictive style of bowling used in
One-Day Internationals could be suggested for the poor strike rate of
the Indian bowlers. The average strike rate of the bowlers mentioned
above (leaving out Kumble) is around 71.23. All said and done, India
will have to do well in all the departments of the game against
Zimbabwe to fulfill their dream of winning a Test series abroad.
