Often at the receiving end of the short-pitched balls with some of India’s premier batsmen struggling to tackle them and giving catches in the slip cordon, it is a joy to watch the Indian bowlers dish them out frequently to the opposition batsmen.
The Indian medium-pacers led by the immensely-experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar took five wickets out of the 10 at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday by bouncing out the Pakistani batsmen to restrict them to 147 in the Asia Cup Group ‘A’ opening match. The target was achieved in the last over, leaving India victors by five wickets.
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Right from the start after choosing to bowl on winning the toss, the Indians used the green top to great effect, bowling short to the Pakistan batsmen and forcing their top-order into committing for the strokes.
Even as Pakistan skipper Babar Azam played two eye-catching drives through the off-side for a four each off Kumar and his left-arm opening partner Arshdeep Singh in their opening overs, the experienced bowler from Uttar Pradesh dealt the first blow. He dismissed Azam with a bouncer that he attempted to pull and only managed in top-edging to the short fine-leg fielder to take the catch at the circle.
Arshdeep, on the other hand, got excited about the bounce that the pitch offered that he bowled one way above the batsman’s head in his opening over.
The Indian medium-pacers – Kumar, Singh, Avesh Khan, and Hardik Pandya – created history on Sunday by picking up all the 10 wickets for the first time in a T20I. India’s fast bowling has come of age in the last few years with the rise and rise of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Md Siraj and in the recent times of Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel among others.
The medium-pace of Hardik Pandya and the swing of Bhuvneshwar Kumar in T20Is cannot be discounted. It was these two who spearheaded India’s victory against Pakistan.
Using the bounce on the pitch that Dubai offered on Sunday to a great effect, India picked up five out of the 10 wickets, four of which were to seriously good bouncers that were wicket-taking deliveries.
After Kumar induced Azam into a mistake in his second over, Pakistan innings’ third, upcoming pacer Avesh Khan used this weapon to remove Pakistan’s No. 3, Fakhar Zaman, in his first over, though it was not before conceding 12 in his first four deliveries. Khan bounced the left-handed Zaman out, forcing the batsman to commit to his shot and edge to wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik.
The next three wickets of Pakistan too feel to short balls, though the one that removed their top-scorer Muhammad Rizwan did not rise so much as expected.
Hardik Pandya, who bowled a tidy first spell of two overs for 15 runs, came back to strike thrice in his second spell of two overs, inducing Iftikhar Ahmed to hook a bouncer and the resultant edge being caught by Karthik.
Such was the bounce on the pitch that the Pakistan batsmen committed to playing the short balls. Pakistan’s opening batsman Rizwan committed himself to playing an upper cut that a short ball from Pandya in his last over did not kick off as desired. A pre-determined upper-cut fell into the hands of Khan at the third-man boundary while Pandya struck again with a bouncer to remove Khushdil Shah, playing an awkward cut high to deep cover.
Kumar, with his experience in conditions that did not help swing, picked up three wickets in his second spell to finish with four for 26 for his best figures against Pakistan in T20Is.
Arshdeep has developed himself into a yorker specialist in the death overs. He removed Pakistan No. 11 Shahnawaz Dahani with a yorker just when the batsman had struck two sixes and looked like taking Pakistan to a total beyond 150. However, Singh had the last laugh.
One of the concerns among India fast bowlers is Avesh Khan. He has gone for runs aplenty, though he has some good pace that he clocked consistently 145kmps. Khan, before inducing a faint edge off Fakhar Zaman’s edge, conceded 12 runs in his first four deliveries.
Khan, who has an economy rate of 8.71 in T20s, fails to keep it tight and leaks so many runs, has plenty to work on his bowling. Despite the Indian think-tank persisting with Khan, he has not shown much improvement. His inconsistency has seen him go for runs aplenty, his slow full tosses and some rank bad balls being easy pickings for the batsmen. He stands little chance of making it to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup that begins in less than 50 days in Australia.
Unless Khan shows remarkable improvement, he would automatically be left out of the Indian squad once the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel return from injuries, what with Deepak Chahar being named in the reserves instead of the main squad for the Asia Cup. Though Khan has pace, it is not all about pace bowling but also about being economical even though wickets are tough to come by.
Indian fast bowling has become a major threat in helpful conditions. Bumrah’s toe-crushers are often dreaded as are Shami’s swing and seam movement. Deepak Chahar, who has been good in Power Play and is working on getting better in the death overs, and the emergence of Arshdeep are all good indications of Indian pace bowling doing well.
While the Indian top-order batsmen including Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli have been inconsistent and vulnerable quite often in recent times, it is the India bowlers, majorly the pacers in helpful conditions that bail the team out from tricky situations.
It is a healthy sign for Indian cricket that the fast bowlers get amongst the wickets more often than not, and the short-pitched stuff, if directed at the batsmen properly in the World Cup in Australia, will play a major role in India’s campaign.
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