The Indian Express - India's search for a tearaway fast bowler

Kamran Khan

Kamran Khan

The early IPL years were eventful in seeking and destroying Indian talent. An exception to this rule was the Rajasthan Royals franchise which used its position to leverage players who otherwise might not have received an opportunity to play at that level. In 2009 to take advantage of the South African conditions, they selected the duo of Kamran Khan and Atul Sharma to beef up their fast bowling resources. Kamran was Munaf Patel redux – a woodcutter’s son, he had no prior experience of playing the game and had been handed a contract solely on Shane Warne’s gut feeling. A few insipid IPL seasons later, he made his first club debut this year for the Sri Lankan domestic team Colts Cricket Club.

Atul Sharma

Atul Sharma

Atul Sharma’s story is even more interesting. He was reported to be consistently bowling over 160 kmph or 100 mph in the nets. He had apparently trained with the US javelin Olympians and also with England bowling coach Ian Pont. A Youtube video of him chopping trees, running with truck tyres around his neck and doing bench presses went viral. It has been five years since then and he remains as much of an enigma as in 2009.

The hunt stopped for a couple of years as India focussed on its 2011 World Cup campaign. A successful outing later, they went to England with an unfit Zaheer Khan and a bunch of medium fast bowlers. At the fag end of the Test series, they had resorted to calling an out-of-shape RP Singh to wear the India whites. After the 4-0 drubbing, one message came out strong and clear – we needed better fast bowlers.