Indian bowlers who came, who saw but never conquered

Sreesanth threw his career away in the spot-fixing scandal

With the conclusion of India’s tour to New Zealand, critics and analysts are convolving like vultures and ripping apart the Indian team’s pathetic display in Kiwi land. In all the endless introspections and reviews, there is one congruent factor, apart from several others: the uninspiring Indian bowling. Leaving aside a few moments of brilliance, the performance of the Indian bowlers from the past few tours, to put it mildly, has been quite insipid. Will we then ever get a bowling unit which is a match-winning combination?

Historically, India has never ever had a bowling line-up which can win matches for their country consistently; especially overseas. True that we have had bowling legends in different eras; but they have been very few and far between. The last decade brought with it many new Indian bowlers who showed initial sparks of brilliance, only to fade away into oblivion for multifarious reasons.

For an Indian cricket fan, it has been quite frustrating to witness some promising bowling talent rise up the rank and then fizzle out with time. Their hearts pump in excitement every time they see a talented Indian bowler shine at the world stage; after all that is a rarity. They then tend to hope that this will be the one bowler who will usher in a revival in India’s sagging bowling fortunes. However that is never to be.

Let us now look at some of those ‘shining stars’ of Indian bowling from the last decade; who came, who saw but never quite conquered the big stage.

Shanthakumaran Sreesanth

Call him the ‘enfant terrible’ or the ‘erratic child’ of Indian cricket, but Sreesanth was an enigma who has now tarred himself forever. It is hard to believe that Sreesanth was once considered the most exciting bowling prospect for India; especially on overseas tours. His seam position and the way he got that ball to talk wowed many the world over when he made his debut in 2004-5.

Unfortunately though, the Keralite could not convert his talent into desired results and was always more interested in things other than playing cricket. In fact it was his love for the theatrics that really cost him dear.

Furthermore, constant bickering with opposition players made him very unpopular. In fact, by his own admission, he was disliked by his team-mates as well. He was always in and out of the side and could never cement his place. His form dipped soon after and Sreesanth was then discarded from the national team for good.

Current status: Sreesanth was found guilty for spot-fixing by the BCCI’s disciplinary committee last year and is now serving a life ban. An unfortunate end to what could have been a promising career.

Rudra Pratap Singh

One of the stars of India’s 2007 World T20 triumph, RP Singh had rapidly become a hero after his success in that tournament. His ability to swing the ball both ways and at a decent speed, made him quite threatening. The left-arm medium pace bowler got good bounce as well and thus in his initial days, batsmen were quite uncomfortable facing him.

Singh rode on his success for a few months after that and even shined in tours to Australia and England. But unfortunately, he did not last long. With dwindling pace, his bowling lost bite and batsmen worked him out soon. RP was thus left out of the team and has been struggling to make a comeback ever since.

Current status: RP Singh features nowhere on the selector’s radar currently and he has to be content with playing domestic games for his home state Uttar Pradesh (UP) where he has been showing good form of late. He has given decent performances in the IPL for different teams and went unsold at the IPL auction this month.

Munaf Patel

Not many would perhaps remember that more than a decade back, a leading national newspaper had carried a front page story on Munaf Patel, claiming him to be the ‘fastest Indian bowler’, before he had even bowled a ball in international cricket. Many thought that India had finally unearthed a raw pacer from the lanes of Ikhar in Gujarat, who can bowl consistently in the late 140s.

Munaf started with a bang on his Test debut against England in 2006 and continued with some fine performances in the coming months. His pace, line and length, ability to reverse the ball and bowl yorkers at the death made him a permanent member of the Indian side.

With time though, Munaf began to fade away. Injuries plagued him and he dropped his speed alarmingly. What made matters worse was his lethargic attitude in the field, which made him a liability to the team. Munaf did feature in the 2011 World Cup winning team, but has been overlooked ever since.

Current status: Munaf Patel continues to be a regular and important member of his state side Baroda where he has come up with some brilliant performances this season. However, in this year’s IPL auction, he was ignored by all the franchises. It looks highly unlikely that Munaf will feature again in the national team.

Irfan Pathan

The blue-eyed poster boy of Indian cricket at one point in time, Irfan Pathan had burst into the scene and had become an overnight sensation. The left-arm fast bowler was once seen in the mould of the great Wasim Akram. His in-swinging deliveries troubled the best of batsmen and to add to it, he was more than decent batsman lower down the order.

After a long time, India seemed to have found a match-winning bowler and Irfan kept proving his credentials for quite some time after his debut in 2003. However, an unclear role in the team, injuries, drop in pace and poor form has resulted in Pathan being constantly in and out of the national team.

Current status: Pathan has had mixed results in the recent Ranji season. His injury has even forced him out of the upcoming World T20 in Bangladesh. It is yet uncertain if Pathan would feature in the IPL this year. However, it would be wrong to say that the 29 year old has lost all hope of a national comeback, as Pathan is known to be fighter and a return in the near future cannot be ruled out.

Praveen Kumar

One of those rare bowlers who can swing the ball both ways, Praveen Kumar had established himself as a regular member of the Indian squad not too long back. Despite his obvious lack of pace, Praveen had the ability to take wickets even on flat Indian wickets. His performance in his debut overseas tour in the CB series in Australia in 2008 was quite fantastic.

Even in India’s disastrous tour to England in 2011, the U.P. lad was one of the shining stars. However, like many other India pacers, Praveen too was heckled with injuries and gradually lowered his pace down further, which made it easier for batsmen to work him out. He lost his swing and the inability to extract bounce began hurting his performances. Not too long after, Praveen was dropped from the squad and he has struggled to return ever since.

Current status: At 27, Praveen still is relatively young and can stage a comeback. A major blow to him though, came when he was unceremoniously shunned at the IPL auctions this year. He has had an average domestic season last year and is still plagued by endless injuries.

Piyush Chawla

Making his mark as a 17-year-old in India’s tour to England in 2007, Piyush Chawla had impressed many with his subtle variations and guile. His ability to bowl a very good googly and the fact that he constantly troubled Kevin Pieterson in that series won him lot of accolades.

A lot was expected from the likes of Piyush Chawla and Irfan Pathan

Furthermore, Chawla was quite handy with the bat lower down the order and was quite agile in the field as well. However, batsmen figured out his variations soon enough and wickets dried up for the leg-spinner. What didn’t help was that Chawla could not add any other changes to his bowling repertoire and thus had to be let off after a few seasons.

He did make a comeback in the World Twenty20 squad in 2010 and was also a part of the 2011 World Cup squad, but failed to make any significant mark.

Current status: Piyush Chawla has had quite a decent domestic season playing for U.P.; both with the bat and with the ball. What comes to his advantage is the fact that he is still only 25 and thus has many years left in him. He has been a good performer in the IPL for Punjab and has been recently purchased by the Kolkata Knight Riders. It remains to be seen how he fares in the coming years.

Amit Mishra

Coming from the classical school of leg-spin bowling, Amit Mishra has been there in the domestic fringes for years. But it was only after Anil Kumble’s retirement in 2008, that he got a chance to represent his country in Tests. He bamboozled the Aussies with his flight and turn and had a great start to his international career. But, Mishra somehow could not replicate the same success when playing on flat and soft surfaces in different conditions and soon became inconsistent.

Unlike the pacers, there were many other spinners waiting in the wings and Mishra was soon left out of the squad. He is still trying hard to make a comeback and was even selected for India’s tour to Zimbabwe last year. Mishra made most of his opportunities there and was reconsidered for the home ODI series against Australia. He could make no impact there and has again been left out.

Current status: At 31, Mishra does not have much time in his hands to keep making comebacks. His performance in the IPL for Hyderabad was remarkable last year and he had a satisfactory last season with his home domestic team Haryana. However, unless Mishra can up with some consistent breakthrough performances, it would be tough for him to reenter the national team.

Murali Kartik

The one thing that impressed everyone was the many variations Murali Kartik possessed. The left-arm spinner had an immaculate line and length and was classical in his approach. Unfortunately, despite performing regularly for his home team Railways, Kartik could never break into the national team because of the presence of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, for the most part of his career.

The tall spinner did make most of his opportunities whenever he was selected. His match-winning 7 wicket match haul against Australia in 2004 in the famous Mumbai test and his 6/27 against the same team in an ODI in 2007 were significant achievements of Kartik’s career.

Unfortunately, Kartik, for some reason, was never a regular member of the national squad, and was continuously disposed off after a few chances. He has been giving good performances in the IPL for different teams and keeps doing well in the English county circuit as well.

Current status: Murali Kartik is currently 37 years of age and thus does not have many years of cricket left in him. He is a regular contributor for Railways and has been selected for the Kings X11 Punjab in the IPL this year. The gutsy spinner is likely to fight it out there but another national call-up seems unlikely.

Romesh Powar

Unfortunately for Romesh Powar, he was spoken more for his waistline rather than his bowling skills when he came into the international scene. The burly off-spinner from Mumbai did impress with his flight and drifters, but could never really make a mark at the world stage.

The spinner though had a very spunky attitude and never gave up even in the most trying circumstances. He was no mug with the bat either and even bravely faced up to the likes of Shoaib Akhtar in India’s tour to Pakistan in 2004, where he made his ODI debut.

Though Powar made his debut in 2004, and was a regular member of the national team for some time, but lack of variations, inconsistency and tough competition from fellow spinners, forced him out of reckoning. What did not help was that Powar could not keep up performances in the domestic circuit and has not been in the selector’s eyes for quite some time.

Current status: Romesh Powar has been ignored by all the IPL teams this year and his performance in the domestic circuit has been just about okay. A talented spinner, it seems, is slowly coming to his career’s end and it can be taken that he will never be seen again in national colours.

Ashish Nehra

His 6/23 against England at Durban in the 2003 World Cup is stuff legends are made of. Ashish Nehra was one of the most promising talents to emerge for India at the start of the new millennium. The left-arm medium-pacer’s in-swinging deliveries were dangerous and with experience he could then swing the ball both ways and at pace.

Just when India thought that they had found a genuine fast bowling prospect, Ashish Nehra began to fade away. Constant troubles with injuries, and unsteady performances made him an irregular team member in the coming years. He did return for the 2011 World Cup and gave a decent performance against Pakistan in the semi-finals. However, Nehra could not back it up and had to make way for much fresher and fitter legs.

Current status: Ashish Nehra was clearly one of the surprise picks at the IPL auctions this year for the Chennai team. In the last few years, his performance in the IPL has been quite good. More notably, his performance in the recent Ranji season has been rather exceptional and thus ruling Ashish Nehra out completely would be imprudent. With India in desperate need of good pace bowlers, Nehra’s return to the national team, even at the age of 34, cannot be ruled out. It remains to be seen though, if he can stake that claim.

**

All the above mentioned bowlers were gifted and made a mark in their own way. These men raised hopes of Indian cricket fans, of giving the national team a decent bowling unit at different times. Unfortunately, they could not continue on their initial promise for varied reasons.

The fact is, this proves that India does have bowling talent, but for some reason, that talent is never nurtured effectively. The administrators, who run the game in the country, need to find out why many bowling talents like these are withering away. Rather than shaking their heads at what could have been, they need to make sure of what can be. That is the need of the hour.