How often do you see Indian fast bowlers dominate headlines during a T20 tournament in the subcontinent? IPL-7 is breaking all those traditions. Put in a nutshell, this season has been all about overseas batsmen and Indian bowlers. Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Dwayne Smith and JP Duminy have all dominated proceedings so far. But on the other side of the pitch are Varun Aaron, Sandeep Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar - all giving them a tougher fight than expected. Young Yuzvendra Chahal has been a revelation so far, as has been Pravin Tambe (a man 20 years older than his RCB rival) who now even has a hat-trick to his credit at the evergreen age of 42.
But Indian pace bowling has been a story here of its own. Pace is a commodity erstwhile unknown in Indian bowling circles. Indian fast bowling has always been more about swing at medium pace than ferocious speed. This isn't the land of the Joel Garners and Andy Roberts; it's the home of Venkatesh Prasad and Zaheer Khan. But Varun Aaron is sending history for a toss. Everyone always knew Aaron was amongst the fastest Indians ever, but Indian pace bowlers, unlike the Australians and South Africans, often trade accuracy for speed. That was often part of the critique against Aaron as well. Not this year though. In 7 games so far, Varun Aaron has bagged 12 wickets at 16 runs a piece. He hasn't been all that expensive either, conceding a relatively moderate 7 runs per over. All that done consistently at 150 kph - a truly un-Indian return.
Aaron isn't alone. At the top of the wicket-takers list (at the time of this writing) sits the usually classy Bhuvneshwar Kumar with 15 scalps in 8 games (and a ridiculous economy rate of 5.50). Bhuvneshwar has generally been the saving grace of whichever team he plays for. When Chris Gayle destroyed Pune last season in his 175-run knock, Bhuvneshwar was the only Pune Warrior to walk off the field with his head held high. That confidence has helped him again this year, taking the new ball alongside Dale Steyn and making up for the lack of runs from the Sunrisers' illustrious top order.
Second to Bhuvi on the same list is Mohit Sharma - CSK's find from last year. Mohit Sharma has gone for nearly 8 runs per over, but that's only because MS Dhoni has had the confidence to throw him at the batsmen towards the end of an innings. The fact that Mohit has gone for less runs while picking up more wickets than his more experienced compatriot Ben Hilfenhaus speaks volumes of the man's growing stature in the game.
But perhaps the real find of the season here is a certain Punjabi called Sandeep Sharma. When KXIP walked out at the end of the auction, everyone saw their team as the 'batting unit of the season' with Mitchell Johnson to boot. The batting has fired (and how!), but Johnson has often taken the boot from opposition batsmen so far. Sandeep Sharma, by contrast, has picked up 13 wickets in just 6 games - and Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli twice at that. Sandeep isn't express fast either, but he's got nippy swing - perhaps the more Indian characteristic to have.
India tour England in July this year. The last time India went to England, they came back blanked. A lot has happened since (including another whitewash in Australia and more trouble in New Zealand) but perhaps the one constant in Indian cricket chats is the nagging problem of poor pace bowling. India are dominant at home where their batsmen chase down anything the opposition throws at them on tracks that are better flattened than the national highways. But when overseas, the test gets sterner. Of course, performances in the maverick format of T20 cricket can never be a guarantee for success at the highest level in the longest form of the game. But rarely has Indian pace bowling been at the receiving end of accolades for boasting talent. India now seems to have that strength in the reserve - with the pace of Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron, the control and bounce of Mohammed Shami, the swing of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the freshness of Sandeep and Mohit Sharma.
Team India's greatest trouble all along has been an unwillingness to penalize consistently poor performances from established players. Think of Ishant Sharma who, despite the odd great spell in Test match cricket, has done little to merit favors over the young men oozing talent below him. It's alright throwing the long rope to a player. But each time you do that, a potentially great player under him is losing out. Team India needs to manage its human resources better.
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| Fast and Furious: Varun Aaron has shone for RCB |
Aaron isn't alone. At the top of the wicket-takers list (at the time of this writing) sits the usually classy Bhuvneshwar Kumar with 15 scalps in 8 games (and a ridiculous economy rate of 5.50). Bhuvneshwar has generally been the saving grace of whichever team he plays for. When Chris Gayle destroyed Pune last season in his 175-run knock, Bhuvneshwar was the only Pune Warrior to walk off the field with his head held high. That confidence has helped him again this year, taking the new ball alongside Dale Steyn and making up for the lack of runs from the Sunrisers' illustrious top order.
Second to Bhuvi on the same list is Mohit Sharma - CSK's find from last year. Mohit Sharma has gone for nearly 8 runs per over, but that's only because MS Dhoni has had the confidence to throw him at the batsmen towards the end of an innings. The fact that Mohit has gone for less runs while picking up more wickets than his more experienced compatriot Ben Hilfenhaus speaks volumes of the man's growing stature in the game.
But perhaps the real find of the season here is a certain Punjabi called Sandeep Sharma. When KXIP walked out at the end of the auction, everyone saw their team as the 'batting unit of the season' with Mitchell Johnson to boot. The batting has fired (and how!), but Johnson has often taken the boot from opposition batsmen so far. Sandeep Sharma, by contrast, has picked up 13 wickets in just 6 games - and Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli twice at that. Sandeep isn't express fast either, but he's got nippy swing - perhaps the more Indian characteristic to have.
India tour England in July this year. The last time India went to England, they came back blanked. A lot has happened since (including another whitewash in Australia and more trouble in New Zealand) but perhaps the one constant in Indian cricket chats is the nagging problem of poor pace bowling. India are dominant at home where their batsmen chase down anything the opposition throws at them on tracks that are better flattened than the national highways. But when overseas, the test gets sterner. Of course, performances in the maverick format of T20 cricket can never be a guarantee for success at the highest level in the longest form of the game. But rarely has Indian pace bowling been at the receiving end of accolades for boasting talent. India now seems to have that strength in the reserve - with the pace of Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron, the control and bounce of Mohammed Shami, the swing of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the freshness of Sandeep and Mohit Sharma.
Team India's greatest trouble all along has been an unwillingness to penalize consistently poor performances from established players. Think of Ishant Sharma who, despite the odd great spell in Test match cricket, has done little to merit favors over the young men oozing talent below him. It's alright throwing the long rope to a player. But each time you do that, a potentially great player under him is losing out. Team India needs to manage its human resources better.
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