India's bowling options for ODI series in South Africa

Zaheer Khan

After India’s emphatic Champions Trophy win in England, many started to believe this team can be successful against any opposition. That’s true as India managed to clinch the tri-series in West Indies, but how long can they be successful? Can they succeed on the faster and bouncier pitches? So far, the pitches on which they’ve played, have been quite dry, and it ideally suited the Indian batsmen.

Be it in England, and West Indies, the pitches did not offer much assistance for the pace bowlers and that is why, Indian batsmen were more successful on both the tours. However, they haven’t felt comfortable playing on the fast pitches, particularly in Australia where they faced an embarrassing 0-4 whitewash in the Test series in 2012.

Ben Hilfenhaus was remarkable in the Test series against India at home as he pitched the ball in the right area, and the wicket did the rest. Even players like Dravid and Tendulkar found it difficult to play strokes freely in Australia.

India faced similar kind of problem in South Africa in 2010 when the senior players failed to make substantial contribution. It was a young team which travelled to South Africa in 2010, with the inclusion of Tiwary and Vijay.

Murali Vijay was unable to offer resistance to the brutal Proteas pace attack as they were getting extra bounce from the wicket. Also, Dhoni was struggling for his form in that particular series and Virat Kohli was the only one who offered resistance to the short-pitched bowling.

However, India’s pace bowlers were effective on the fast pitches in South Africa in 2010 and that is the only thing which would give confidence to MS Dhoni when he travels to South Africa later this year.

Even in the tri-series tournament in West Indies, India’s fast bowlers were able to get some purchase out of the wicket. At Jamaica, the wicket was double paced, on which Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma exploited the conditions to perfection. So, MS Dhoni will be hoping for a good performance from his fast bowlers in South Africa, as it would certainly boost the confidence of the batsmen.

The selectors need to recall Zaheer Khan and some of the senior members of the squad for the tour of South Africa.

Zaheer Khan has the experience of playing in South Africa and hence, he would be a handy customer with the ball. Meanwhile, Praveen Kumar’s fitness continues to be unreliable and Irfan Pathan hasn’t performed consistently for India.

So, what are the bowling options available for South Africa tour?

India’s bowling option in ODIs for the South Africa tour

1. Zaheer Khan – Zaheer Khan has been out of the side for couple of years due to injuries. He has the ability to shine on conducive pitches and India needs him back as he still remains the most canny bowlers in the country.

2. Umesh Yadav – He has thrived on bouncier pitches. You must have watched Umesh Yadav’s performance in the warm-up match against Australia in the Champions Trophy. The wicket had a tinge of grass to it and Australian batsmen had no answer for him. His main strength is his pace, and therefore he could pose a threat to South Africa top order batsmen.

3. Ishant Sharma – He is a tall man and thus, he can get extra bounce from the wicket. So, India needs to select him for the tour of South Africa.

4. R Ashwin – He has been the strike bowler for India. India found proper replacement for Harbhajan Singh in the form of Ravichandran Ashwin. He has a lot of varieties in his bowling which could trouble the Proteas. South Africa aren’t fine players of spin bowling and hence, Ashwin could be a threat to South Africa’s middle-order batsmen.

5. Bhuvneshwar Kumar – He is a good exponent of the new-ball but we don’t know how good he can be on bouncy wickets. So, he needs to shine in the warm-up matches before getting selected for the main series.

6. Ravindra Jadeja – He had a remarkable Champions Trophy and it was followed by an excellent tri-series in West Indies. He is not a big spinner off the ball, but he can get that extra bounce from the wicket. Therefore, he could pose problems to the right handed batsmen.

7. Praveen Kumar – He is a genuine swinger off the new-ball, and also gets the yorkers right at the death overs. He needs to perform consistently at the domestic level to get selected for the tour of South Africa. However, he will have to be kept away from injuries.