Rise of Indian pacers highlight of 2019, reckons Irfan Pathan

Former Indian left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan was absolutely thrilled with the performance of the Indian pacers in 2019 and he felt that their rise and sheer dominance was the best highlight of 2019.

The Indian pace attack did well in their latest tours to South Africa and England. But it was the tour of Australia in 2018-19 that they really began to hunt in packs. Jasprit Bumrah was on fire as India won their first-ever series Down Under and became only the third Indian pacer to take a hat-trick in Test cricket.

When Bumrah later suffered a stress fracture, Umesh Yadav stepped in in his absence and this was not the inconsistent version of him. Rather, he showed the best bowling form of his career in 2019, picking up 23 wickets in the calendar year. In the Indian conditions where there was little assistance to pacers, Yadav formed a trio with Ishant Sharma (25 wickets in 2019) and Mohammad Shami (33 wickets in 2019) and absolutely terrorised the batting line-ups of South Africa and Bangladesh.

Pathan stated that seeing Indian pacers dominate in Indian conditions was a rare sight and he feels that it was surely the biggest gain of 2019 for the Indian team.

"This year we saw India's fast bowlers bowl beautifully for the country and it's been one of the best fast bowling line-ups that we have seen. We saw the intent with which they bowled, they came in, bowled hard-swinging deliveries, new or old ball it didn't matter," Pathan said.

The trio had a combined average of 15.16, which is the best average for any team in a calendar year. With overseas tours of Australia and New Zealand coming up in 2020, exciting times lie ahead for the Indian team with such a lethal pace battery.

"I have really seen the growth of Indian cricket especially in terms of fast bowling which has been the highlight for me this year," Pathan concluded.